11–20 of 193 posts
Striking that there were more shoemakers than tailors.
I don't know what the right comparison is today. According to [0], the fashion industry accounts for about 3% of world GDP. Perhaps shoes are a quarter of that?
I wonder what the most common jobs are in a modern city. Probably all bullshit.
bullshit in whose opinion? As someone who does not believe in god, are all of the church related jobs bullshit? Or are they not, since a lot of people want churches and their services? If a job exists, there's apparently at least one person who wants it done.
I wonder what the most common jobs are in a modern city. Probably all bullshit.
- skillful
- useful
- well organized enough
Today people don't do much, they don't master much, most of it is done far away in large shops or plants. It's rarely that useful (we're overwhelmingly comfy) and recent management practices are surreal most of the time.
I talked to a few people that prefered low wage in exchange for more skills or usefulness, even if the job might look less impressive in the first place.
I wonder what the most common jobs are in a modern city. Probably all bullshit.
bullshit in whose opinion? As someone who does not believe in god, are all of the church related jobs bullshit? Or are they not, since a lot of people want churches and their services? If a job exists, there's apparently at least one person who wants it done.
Striking that there were more shoemakers than tailors.
I wonder what the most common jobs are in a modern city. Probably all bullshit.
[0] https://stacker.com/new-york/new-york-city/most-common-jobs-...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
bullshit in whose opinion? As someone who does not believe in god, are all of the church related jobs bullshit? Or are they not, since a lot of people want churches and their services? If a job exists, there's apparently at least one person who wants it done.
I think the parent quote may be in reference to David Graeber's commentary on "bullshit jobs".
>flunkies, who serve to make their superiors feel important, e.g., receptionists, administrative assistants, door attendants, makers of websites whose sites neglect ease of use and speed for looks;
They serve, hence, not a bullshit job. We might look down on it, but they are providing value to their employer. Sadly perhaps, humans are just deeply subjective. See again my religion example. Also, this seems really dismissive of receptionists/PAs. These people do a lot of real work.
>goons, who act to harm or deceive others on behalf of their employer, e.g., lobbyists, corporate lawyers, telemarketers, public relations specialists, community managers;
Not very nice no, but again they provide value to their bosses. Probably to themselves too.
>duct tapers, who temporarily fix problems that could be fixed permanently, e.g., programmers repairing bloated code, airline desk staff who calm passengers whose bags do not arrive;
This just seems to be naïve idealism.
>box tickers, who create the appearance that something useful is being done when it is not, e.g., survey administrators, in-house magazine journalists, corporate compliance officers, quality service managers;
Here it gets interesting. These people may actually be the first that don't provide value, but trick others into thinking they do.
>taskmasters, who manage—or create extra work for—those who do not need it, e.g., middle management, leadership professionals.
This is a mix of dumb (mis)managers, and malicious time wasters. I think it's obvious that a lot of resources of all kinds are wasted by inefficiencies caused by stupidity. That's a human (as in, we as a species) problem. Then there's malice, which fits into the "tricks others into believing they provide value" category.
Anyway, that's just my take on it.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
bullshit in whose opinion? As someone who does not believe in god, are all of the church related jobs bullshit? Or are they not, since a lot of people want churches and their services? If a job exists, there's apparently at least one person who wants it done.
Church worker; social worker: what's the difference?
Striking that there were more shoemakers than tailors.
I would expect that. Clothes last significantly longer than shoes (you can wear a cheap T-Shirt for way over 5 years, but even good midrange shoes start to fall apart after 2 years). It is also fairly easy to repair or even make clothes at home. But shoes?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think the parent quote may be in reference to David Graeber's commentary on "bullshit jobs".
I figured as much. But I don't agree with the premise of the book. Sure, we all "know" the jobs are bullshit, and yet they aren't. Let's go over the wikipedia summary at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit_Jobs >flunkies, who serve to make their superiors feel important, e.g., receptionists, administrative assistants, door attendants, makers of websites whose sites neglect ease of use and speed for looks; They ser…
Imo, receptionists, administrative assistant and "makers of websites whose sites neglect ease of use and speed for looks" are all actually useful. Their function is not just to make someone feel superior. Instead, I would argue that whoever wrote that was caught in own feeling of superiority over service staff.