The rise of the pointless job

Post by jeffreyrogers » Fri, May 04, 2018, 7:54 PM UTC

bitL wrote: post #165

PeterisP wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, digging a hole in the ground and then filling it up is horribly, soul crushingly demotivating. Even if someone is working in a job that de facto amounts to doing just that, it should be covered up so that this fact isn't obvious and that a person can reasonably choose to ignore the truth and convince themselves that their job has some real value. Which is actually done, all kinds of internal propaganda, glor…

> digging a hole in the ground and then filling it up is horribly, soul crushingly demotivating. Europe can start reconstructing all the ruins of castles, monasteries and cathedrals; for example Napoleon destroyed quite a lot of them and most didn't recover. Or just tear down all the ugly buildings built between 50s-70s when architects were out of whack like some German cities are doing right now (Frankfurt) and repl…

Post by rolandog » Fri, May 04, 2018, 7:55 PM UTC

expensivedrone wrote: post #80

I'm a programmer working at a big-tech company. I make ~$350k/year, even though my job could be done equally well by a college intern. I only do ~2 hours of productive work in an average day. My previous jobs were far more interesting and challenging, and I had apparently done extremely well in my interviews. Hence why I got an offer with an extremely good compensation package. However, the team that I go put into, i…

Post by twoquestions » Fri, May 04, 2018, 7:58 PM UTC

aristocles wrote: post #147

romanr wrote: post #29

This is another argument in favor of universal income. Bullshit jobs is one of consequences of progress, low cost goods, food and comfort. With increasing automation it’s going to be get incrementally harder to find bullshit jobs for people. until society understands that not everyone can and have to be employed.

UBI will lead to societal degeneration. Prices of essential services and goods would skyrocket; people would lose direction and the small amount of meaning they had. I call UBI gay-space-communism because it suggests that all human beings are capable of handling themselves outside of employment and daily routine. They are not. The market creates this drive in people, and if you remove it, people will degenerate fast.…

Post by egypturnash » Fri, May 04, 2018, 8:01 PM UTC

not_real_acct wrote: post #118

expensivedrone wrote: post #80

I'm a programmer working at a big-tech company. I make ~$350k/year, even though my job could be done equally well by a college intern. I only do ~2 hours of productive work in an average day. My previous jobs were far more interesting and challenging, and I had apparently done extremely well in my interviews. Hence why I got an offer with an extremely good compensation package. However, the team that I go put into, i…

On a Monday I quit my job and gave my two week notice. The next day my wife was fired. The day after that, my old boss offered me a raise if I would stick around. I did both jobs simultaneously for six months. In my entire life nothing has been more lucrative than this. I've tried investing in stocks, bonds, and real estate. Nothing has been more lucrative than double-dipping. The thing that's so bizarre, is that it…

Post by DamnYuppie » Fri, May 04, 2018, 8:06 PM UTC

3pt14159 wrote: post #180

poulsbohemian wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is very similar to the situation that caused the Swiss to become the mercenaries of Europe. If you were the second son, you weren't going to inherit the farm and thus in a resource-poor country like Switzerland of the Middle Ages, your best choice was to go abroad and find some feudal lord putting together an army. Thus you became a "freelance" and hopefully found riches. I've always thought Machiavelli's dislik…

Eh. They could become merchants or craftspersons too. The options weren't starve to death or kill for money.