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The vast majority of working adults in the US are employed in the making and selling of things people don't need. A world without bullshit is total, utter econo

The vast majority of working adults in the US are employed in the making and selling of things people don't need. A world without bullshit is total, utter economic collapse. It's the end of capitalism. It's hundreds of millions of people with nothing to do all day and no way to sustain themselves, an inevitable civil war with the landlord class, and a revolution that manages to install a government's that quite possibly worse. Every piece of bullshit you see is how a great many people pay their mortgages and feed their children. Casting them out to the street is unlikely to make things better.

tacoman 11y ago
This is so obviously true, I can't help but think I'm missing something. It's certainly not limited to the US. It's a world wide phenomenon and exists everywhere people aren't living a subsistence existence. Everyone's bullshit is someone else's reason for existence. The product I work on is completely superfluous to my life, but over a million people pay for it including some of my coworkers.
viraptor 11y ago
That's assuming people have been so brainwashed they need to be told what they want / should find fun. And I'm sure that's not true. For example, sure there's lots of advertisements of snowboarding, but if any/all of them disappeared, it doesn't mean I would stop wanting to do it. But of course, I don't need it. I'm still spending my money on gear / clothing / transport / accommodation / food / services that are related to snowboarding, because I want to do it. People wanted things before bullshit all around us existed (or existed only in a limited and local scale). Civilisation existed before the first advertisement agency was created.
eli_gottlieb 11y ago
>A world without bullshit is ... the end of capitalism. Finally! I get rid of two things I hate in one go! >It's hundreds of millions of people with nothing to do all day and no way to sustain themselves, an inevitable civil war with the landlord class, and a revolution that manages to install a government's that quite possibly worse. Why do you find it easier to imagine the end of civilization than the end of capitalism? http://strikemag.org/capitalist-realism-by-mark-fisher/ http://strikemag.org/capitalist-realism-by-mark-fisher/
beagle3 11y ago
> The vast majority of working adults in the US are employed in the making and selling of things people don't need. A world without bullshit is total, utter economic collapse. There's little difference between "things that people don't need", and "things that people may need but are done inefficiently". In the late 19th century, you might have said that "a world with cars means utter economic collapse of the whip-and-buggy-and-horse trades". And you would be right - but that just means people (and jobs) are reallocated to more useful stuff. And that is what would (and should, but never will) happen if bullshit is eradicated -- rather than total economic collapse. This kind of eradication does not happen overnight - it takes a long time, and except for the incumbents who are too happy with their share, everyone sees it coming and adjusts accordingly.
- superuser2 11y ago
  >but that just means people (and jobs) are reallocated to more useful stuff. No one argues that bullshit is constantly being iterated on. But cars are bullshit - i.e. we lived for a long time without them, and they needed to be advertised to take hold. Now simply having a car is entrenched bullshit, and the cutting edge is convincing people to buy expensive ones. You don't need a car, but cars are necessary to facilitate the American Dream, also sold to us by advertising in the 40s/50s, of living in suburbs. Home ownership and the things that go with it are equally bullshit. One of the first documented shifts in public opinion orchestrated by a PR firm is America's belief that roads are for cars instead of people.

tacoman 11y ago

This is so obviously true, I can't help but think I'm missing something. It's certainly not limited to the US. It's a world wide phenomenon and exists everywhere people aren't living a subsistence existence. Everyone's bullshit is someone else's reason for existence. The product I work on is completely superfluous to my life, but over a million people pay for it including some of my coworkers.

viraptor 11y ago

That's assuming people have been so brainwashed they need to be told what they want / should find fun. And I'm sure that's not true. For example, sure there's lots of advertisements of snowboarding, but if any/all of them disappeared, it doesn't mean I would stop wanting to do it. But of course, I don't need it. I'm still spending my money on gear / clothing / transport / accommodation / food / services that are related to snowboarding, because I want to do it. People wanted things before bullshit all around us existed (or existed only in a limited and local scale). Civilisation existed before the first advertisement agency was created.

eli_gottlieb 11y ago

>A world without bullshit is ... the end of capitalism. Finally! I get rid of two things I hate in one go! >It's hundreds of millions of people with nothing to do all day and no way to sustain themselves, an inevitable civil war with the landlord class, and a revolution that manages to install a government's that quite possibly worse. Why do you find it easier to imagine the end of civilization than the end of capitalism? http://strikemag.org/capitalist-realism-by-mark-fisher/ http://strikemag.org/capitalist-realism-by-mark-fisher/

beagle3 11y ago

> The vast majority of working adults in the US are employed in the making and selling of things people don't need. A world without bullshit is total, utter economic collapse. There's little difference between "things that people don't need", and "things that people may need but are done inefficiently". In the late 19th century, you might have said that "a world with cars means utter economic collapse of the whip-and-buggy-and-horse trades". And you would be right - but that just means people (and jobs) are reallocated to more useful stuff. And that is what would (and should, but never will) happen if bullshit is eradicated -- rather than total economic collapse. This kind of eradication does not happen overnight - it takes a long time, and except for the incumbents who are too happy with their share, everyone sees it coming and adjusts accordingly.

superuser2 11y ago
>but that just means people (and jobs) are reallocated to more useful stuff. No one argues that bullshit is constantly being iterated on. But cars are bullshit - i.e. we lived for a long time without them, and they needed to be advertised to take hold. Now simply having a car is entrenched bullshit, and the cutting edge is convincing people to buy expensive ones. You don't need a car, but cars are necessary to facilitate the American Dream, also sold to us by advertising in the 40s/50s, of living in suburbs. Home ownership and the things that go with it are equally bullshit. One of the first documented shifts in public opinion orchestrated by a PR firm is America's belief that roads are for cars instead of people.