What did you think?

With any author whose written a popsci book that has an interesting premise you can usually find an interview or talk they've done to promote it where they mention the core take aways from the book without you having to commit to reading a bunch of padding. Graeber's probably a more engaging talker than writer.
youtube.com/watch?v=kikzjTfos0s

Reading a summary of it, seems kind of bullshit desu.

>The author contends that more than half of societal work is pointless, both large parts of some jobs and, as he describes, five types of entirely pointless jobs:

>flunkies, who serve to make their superiors feel important, e.g., receptionists, administrative assistants, door attendants

Clearly, this guy has never been in the private sector if he thinks receptionists are useless. Customers are fucking awful and having a first line of defense is hugely important, if only to protect against the Karens of the world.

>goons, who act aggressively on behalf of their employers, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists

Some bougie opinion once again. If you can't see the value of fucking lawyers of all people, go to a third world country where everything is at the government's whim.

>duct tapers, who ameliorate preventable problems, e.g., programmers repairing shoddy code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags don't arrive

This is honestly the most important job category of all. Shit falls apart constantly because of entropy. Even the shoddy coding part isn't accurate. Most of the time when code stops working, it's because the entire ecosystem and requirements have changed. It's damn near impossible to design a code base that lasts forever. Talk to the AOL guys if you disagree with this point.

>box tickers, who use paperwork or gestures as a proxy for action, e.g., performance managers, in-house magazine journalists, leisure coordinators

Sure, leisure coordinators are probably the most frivolous job on this list, but honestly, it's such a tiny industry it doesn't matter. I'd also rather have a society WITH leisure coordinators than without. Consider how miserable countries like the USSR were.

>taskmasters, who manage—or create extra work for—those who don't need it, e.g., middle management, leadership professionals[2][1]

Again, middle management, while often mocked, is 100% necessary for a large organization. It's like this guy has never worked a single day in the private sector. Teams larger than 10 people quickly become unmanageable. In gigantic teams, the people who shirk off work can do so without anyone noticing and the people who do all the work are completely ignored. You also lose the benefit of teamwork when you're in a gigantic team. Middle managers are important for managing the day to day affairs in the office.

Strangely missing from the list are the most useless jobs of all:
>glorified bloggers-- people like clickbait journalists, writers, and academics studying useless subjects

Of course he omits the category.

>reading tenured academics to learn about your wage slavery

try again, taleb and skallas are what the people need

>>duct tapers, who ameliorate preventable problems, e.g., programmers repairing shoddy code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags don't arrive
How is fixing systems a "bullshit job".

>that cover
Is he trying to subtly imply that Christianity is bullshit?

work is a religion

Because fixing infrastructure is for goys, goy.

I also like how teachers are conspicuously missing from this list.

The nonbullshit jobs dont have the same staying power and often when the joba done others are hard to come by. Also humans are shit at using free time productively (look at most neets) its our curse

He could be implying that Christianity is responsible for the work obsessed culture we have. Weber's Protestant work ethic is actually much older than Protestantism.

I haven't read it but I despise everything about Universal Basic Income. It's paradoxical because UBI does seem to be the only solution to the problem of the modern service economy. But then we will become a society of parasites. Everything's fucked no matter what happens.

(((David Graeber)))

What's the article?

>solution to the problem of the modern service economy

Where's the problem though? People like being useful and going out would be impossible without the modern service economy.

It always makes me chuckle who the people who decry the service economy are the same types of people who eat out every week/use uber/etc. Like, are you fucking blind or do you not see the hypocrisy?

big if true

>implying the opponents of service economy are hyper consumers of it
If our jobs are meaning less then what does that say about the culture and society we live in?
No Wonder drugs and mental illness is skyrocketing, we have built this rat race with the winners predetermined by birth into rich families.

It's right. Only American cucks will disagree.

>If our jobs are meaning less then what does that say about the culture and society we live in?

Unironically read The Unabomber's Manifesto. ALL jobs are meaningless from a certain point of view. The meaning of one's life should not come from the job itself, but what you choose to do with it. For some, it's starting a family. For others, it's taking a hobby and pursuing it fully as a career.

What on earth would you categorize as a meaningful job anyway? Farming? You can be a farmer, no one is stopping you. Do you want to build shit? No one is stopping you from studying and becoming an engineer.

The people who say "jobs are meaningless" are just depressed assholes projecting their own insecurities onto the world.

Capitalist cuck detected. Begone, stooge.

>Capitalist cuck
The irony of that phrase. No seriously, explain what a meaningful job is. Does such a job exist today? Has such a job ever existed in history? If so, were such meaningful jobs available to the majority of people?

You seem to forget that before the modern era, 99% of people were peasants on a farm.

>You can be a farmer, no one is stopping you. Do you want to build shit? No one is stopping you from studying and becoming an engineer.

I meant this. There are quite a few factors stopping the average person from those things and a lot of things they want to do.

no
meaningless job is sacrifice and suffering

Can we just shoot everyone in advertising

>depressed
*alienated
you mean they had property and were relatively self-sufficient, and also had a family.

>There are quite a few factors stopping the average person from those things and a lot of things they want to do.

I mean, that's just reality though. Sure, a billionaire's child would be able to hop from job to job, but it's doubtful they would excel at any of them. Jobs are all about who you know and how hard you are willing to work to get there.

For example, I graduated with a BA in lit and was facing two job prospects: either be an insurance salesman for Geico or travel across the country to Virginia to join a shady bootcamp with a 50% chance of passing and finding a job. I did the latter and even though it was hell, it was far better than the alternative for me.

Now that I'm situated in a better position in life, I can start to build the lifestyle I actually want. I'm moving to a single apartment downtown where I'll be able to cook/build whatever I want, but I'll also be able to walk to the cafe whenever I want and do some writing.

If you really really want to be a farmer, I'm sure there's some path you can take to eventually get there. Even though it will suck in the beginning, I'm sure you can actually make it if you are willing to put in the hours. You just have to be willing to make the necessary sacrifices to get there.

>you mean they had property and were relatively self-sufficient, and also had a family.
>peasants
>self-sufficient

What the fuck? Have you studied ANY history? Peasants were the opposite of self-sufficient. They were basically slaves. Lords would kill them if they refused to work and nobility would rape their wives and they couldn't do anything about it.

Any book that has a cuss word in the title is bad. Every single time.