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Bullshit jobs also 4) keep a country's population occupied so they don't self-organize and revolt against the country's entrenched power structures.
by vorg 8y ago
Bullshit jobs also 4) keep a country's population occupied so they don't self-organize and revolt against the country's entrenched power structures.
- adamjc 8y agoI think this is a side-effect rather than intentional.
- eeZah7Ux 8y agoHistory proves otherwise. In many cultures, including ancient Greece, China and the roman empire, scholars described that artificially creating employment to prevent social unrest was not uncommon.
- TeMPOraL 8y agoMaybe in the past, but these days, it would require unprecedented (in western democracies) levels of direct influence. On the other hand, the market is itself extremely good at keeping people occupied, chasing ever diminishing salaries.
- pixl97 8y ago>levels of direct influence Um... isn't that exactly what a 'jobs program' is. The US government has a lot of programs with private industry along those lines.
- leetcrew 8y agosure, but is the revolt prevented by keeping them busy or by giving them an (albeit bullshit) means of keeping food on their tables? i'm not a historian, but most of the revolts i've learned about were immediately preceded by severe scarcities of essential items.
- branchless 8y agoSpot on. Spare time would allow us to conclude we can expunge rentiers. Here is a video on land value tax, which would fix our messed up feudal economies: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD_dZvPwAj0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD_dZvPwAj0 Posting here as shadow banned after two posts because Hacker News hates any kind of free speech.