Thursday, April 04, 2019

Sustainable Planet and Bullshit Jobs

As David Graeber wrote in his book Bullshit Jobs, finding meaningful work is a problem. Graeber contends that over half of societal work is pointless, and that this becomes psychologically destructive when paired with a work ethic that associates work with self-worth.

This fits my experience. As our glorious economy pours billions in pursuit of autonomous vehicles, the future of the planet is increasingly imperiled. From global warming to microplastics to nuclear proliferation, the prospects for succeeding generations are increasing bleak.

So put 2 and 2 together. Everything that is produced must be recycled. Take half the workforce that is doing bullshit jobs and put them to work recycling. This is best done by sovereign governments where money is no object (MMT).

Hire people to do what needs to be done to make a livable planet. Stop counting on "the market" to solve our problems. The market, and capitalist financial markets in particular, are not good at dealing with externalities (e.g. pollution). The market as currently constructed is good at employing people in bullshit jobs and at building financial bubbles.

No comments:

To Our Children's Children's Children Once More

  This is my occasional confession of my true view of our world and what we might do to steer our ship in a better direction.  I'm sendi...