“On the Phenomenon of bullshit jobs” by David Graeber
Graeber explains that many jobs we find are there just to keep us working but in the long run are unhelpful and unworthy of pursuing. They don’t benefit us in any way and in fact, has an impact on how we feel since we start to gain resentment for the job, the boss, and the whole company. He talks about how the ruling class thinks morally and politically by making sure that we are constantly working and do not receive any free time otherwise, according to them, we deserve nothing. This surprised me since the ruling class expects us to do all the hard work 24/7 and make little to nothing financially which barely covers our daily expenses. Meanwhile, members at the top make ten times more money, actually get to relax, and get other people to do their work for them. This is just unfair and unethical.
One interesting quote I found in the text was that people “…spend their entire working lives performing tasks they secretly believe do not really need to be performed” (Graeber 1). It shows just how valuable we all think our jobs are but more often than not, we just keep that thought in the back of our heads instead of saying it aloud. I thought that this quote was very interesting because I can relate to it. Often times I have felt the need to give up on my job because I felt that it was worthless and would never benefit me in what I really wanted to pursue in the future. I think all the time about whether certain jobs should or should not exist based on how they contribute to society, and maybe the answer lies with the idea that all jobs contribute in their own little way, just some more than others.
