Abstract
The future of technological unemployment predicted by J.M. Keynes has in fact come to pass—but that we have compensated for the lack of work by creating millions of unnecessary jobs with little purpose. The way our society thinks about work is contradictory: we see work as necessary for meaning and identity, yet many of us hate our jobs. The values we attach to paid employment have a long history, strongly influenced by Puritan traditions of thought. We should give people the ability to leave pointless jobs by decommodifying work through a universal basic income.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Dahlgreen, W. (2015). 37% of British Workers Think Their Jobs are Meaningless. YouGov. Retrieved August 2, 2019, from https://yougov.co.uk/topics/lifestyle/articles-reports/2015/08/12/british-jobs-meaningless
Graeber, D. (2004). Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology. Chicago: Prickly Paradigm Press.
Graeber, D. (2013). On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs: A Work Rant. Strike! Magazine. Retrieved August 2, 2019, from https://strikemag.org/bullshit-jobs/
Graeber, D. (2018). Bullshit Jobs. London: Allen Lane.
Keynes, J. M. (1930). Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren (1930). In Essays in Persuasion. New York: Harcourt Brace.
Sahlins, M. (1972/2017). Stone Age Economics. Reprint. Abingdon, Oxon and New York: Routledge Classics.
Sirota, D. (2006, June 26). Mr Obama Goes to Washington. Nation.
Toffler, A. (1970). Future Shock. New York: Random House.
Vonnegut, K. (1952). Player Piano. New York: Delacorte Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Graeber, D. (2020). Policy for the Future of Work. In: Skidelsky, R., Craig, N. (eds) Work in the Future. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21134-9_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21134-9_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21133-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21134-9
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)