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The book "Bullshit Jobs" by David Graeber defines five types of jobs, two of which are "goons" and "box tickers". Goons include hired people who lobby aggressiv
by lwneal 7y ago
The book "Bullshit Jobs" by David Graeber defines five types of jobs, two of which are "goons" and "box tickers".
Goons include hired people who lobby aggressively on behalf of their employer: lobbyists, corporate lawyers, PR specialists.
Box tickers are those who use paperwork and process to appear to be busy, even though the real useful work would continue without their intervention.
It's no secret that the top-5 tech firms hire large numbers of lobbyists and corporate lawyers [1].
And I don't think it is a stretch to say that some well-paid engineering positions include work such as maintaining built-in-house duplicates of open source software, or enforcing arbitrary coding standards, that could be considered "box ticking". Present company excluded, of course.
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/us/politics/amazon-apple-facebook-google-lobbying.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/05/us/politics/amazon-apple-...
- rayiner 7y agoDavid Graeber is an anthropologist. He apparently did a PhD thesis on "magic, slavery, and politics." What qualifies him to talk about the economy and the function of various jobs? I mean, hell, he's an anthropology professor declaring other jobs to be "bullshit." (But I won't go so far as to say "anthropology professor" is a bullshit job, because I'm self aware enough to realize that I probably just don't understand what economic function they perform.)
- davidgraeber 7y agoAnthropologists are not qualified to decide whose job is bullshit and neither is anyone else. That's the whole premise of the book. Anthropologists however are trained to listen to what people say about their own lives and understandings of it and that's what I did - a bullshit job is defined as one which the person doing the job believes doesn't have to, or shouldn't, exist.