People have been predicting that humans would be working less for a long time. All of those predictions have yet to be realized. The dynamics of the workforce and the type of work has changed dramatically from the days of Benjamin Franklin obviously, but it seems the quest for a job is what most people are still schooled to strive for. Let's take a look at some of the predictions.
- In the late 1700s, Benjamin Franklin predicted we'd soon work a 4 hour week.
- In 1833 John Adolphus Etzler wrote a book called "The Paradise within the Reach of all Men" where he described how contemporary technology was sufficient, if properly developed and astutely applied, to bring about an earthly paradise of effortless plenty-full abundance for all people of this world within just a matter of a few years and with very little demand for any human labor.
- George Bernard Shaw predicted that we would work a 2-hour day by the year 2000.
- In 1933, the US Senate passed a bill for an official 30-hour work week. (But President Roosevelt killed it.)
- In 1935, W.K. Kellogg introduced a scheme to cut 2 hours from the working day, yet still pay the same full wages. It was cost-effective – morale and productivity rose; accident and insurance rates fell.
- In 1956, Richard Nixon predicted that we would finally have a 4-day work week in the "not too distant future".
- In 1965, a US Senate subcommittee predicted a 22-hour work week by 1985, and a 14 hour work week by 2000.
- In the 1960s, Paul and Percival Goodman estimated that just 5% of the work being done would satisfy our food, clothing and shelter needs for all people.
- In 1981, the well-known scientist and engineer Buckminster Fuller claimed that 70% of US jobs were completely unnecessary.
In 2018 many people still want jobs and think that having jobs is simply a given for the human predicament. They presuppose that to work for a living is just the way it is and that we must justify our existence by submitting to some form of labor. When they see homeless and poor people, they assume that a lack of jobs is the issue. And the goal of politics is largely to invent jobs to occupy people and grant them purchasing power through a paycheck.
"The mark of an intelligent and educated man is one who does not really accept the idea of "work". That is to say; he does not accept the process of doing chores every day, that aren't in the least bit interesting to him, just in order to go on living." - Alan Watts
David Graeber, a well-known anarchist came up with 5 types of bullshit jobs. They are as follows:
- Flunky jobs - They are there to make people look good e.g. personal assistants, secretaries etc.
- Goons - Corporate lawyers, telemarketers etc. are jobs that exist because other companies have them. They’re like armies; if nobody had them then there is no reason for them to exist.
- Duct tapers - These people are there to fix problems that don’t exist.
- Box tickers - These people are there to allow a corporation (govt.) to say something that they are not doing.
- Task masters - This is middle management. These people are there to supervise people who don’t need supervising, or to create more bullshit jobs.
Marketing, insurance agents, lobbyists, real estate agents, bankers, cashiers, the many redundant companies producing the same product while maintaining many redundant departments and headcounts are examples. Charity, homeless shelters, psychotherapists and other jobs which deal with victims of the system could be thrown in there as well to some extent. Today, a large percentage of all jobs are systemic and/or redundant bullshit jobs that are destroying our societies and biosphere.
The vision of a world freed from unnecessary labor through highly advanced and properly applied automation remains with us. And after all these years we may yet find a much more complete realization of that vision. But don’t hold your breath!
So how many of you out there would consider your job a bullshit job that could be eliminated or automated?
Sources - Related Articles: http://www.anxietyculture.com/workhell.htm
http://evonomics.com/why-capitalism-creates-pointless-jobs-david-graeber/
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