In 1928 John Maynard Keynes predicted that, a century on, technological efficiency would be so great, and prosperity so assured, that people would be at pains to avoid going crazy from leisure and boredom. In his book Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber, an anthropologist at the London School of Economics, goes some way to validate Keynes’s prediction by exposing what he calls the "useless jobs that no one wants to talk about". Graeber defines a bullsh*t job as a form of employment that is so pointless, unnecessary or pernicious that it cannot be justified. Not to be confused with sh*t jobs, which are usually blue collar and paid by the hour, bullsh*t jobs are generally white collar and salaried. "Those who work sh*t jobs tend to be the object of indignities," explains Graeber, "they not only work hard but are held in low esteem for that very reason. But at least they know they’re doing something useful. Those who work bullsh*t jobs are often surrounded by honour and prestige; they are res...
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