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André Gorz predicted the revolt against meaningless work (2023)

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100 points robtherobber | 2 comments | 16 Oct 25 15:21 UTC | HN request time: 0.407s | source
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brudgers ◴[20 Oct 25 18:35 UTC] No.45647448[source]▶
related? David Graeber's On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs

https://davidgraeber.org/articles/on-the-phenomenon-of-bulls...

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Imustaskforhelp ◴[22 Oct 25 22:11 UTC] No.45675814[source]▶
> The answer clearly isn’t economic: it’s moral and political. The ruling class has figured out that a happy and productive population with free time on their hands is a mortal danger (think of what started to happen when this even began to be approximated in the ’60s). And, on the other hand, the feeling that work is a moral value in itself, and that anyone not willing to submit themselves to some kind of intense work discipline for most of their waking hours deserves nothing, is extraordinarily convenient for them.

Isn't this sort of similar to 1984 Like they had ways to provide enough but they wouldn't because then they would lose the power or something similar

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1. immibis ◴[23 Oct 25 08:38 UTC] No.45679615[source]▶
Stories like 1984 try to convey (among other things) the mechanisms and effects of power. Everything else (laws, money, work) is subordinate to power relationships.

People who are good at obtaining and maintaining power may collectively be called "the ruling class". By definition, people with lots of power control us. That's what it means to have power.

But the exact appearance of that power differs in each society. In North Korea you worship the leader or they shoot you dead, because "he is literally God and how dare you defy God". In the USSR you report good numbers to your boss or you are kidnapped and brought to a gulag, because "you are interfering with our progress towards glorious communist utopia, comrade". And in the United States of America you seek out a boss to submit yourself to 40 hours a week, or else you find yourself unable to obtain food because "it's a free market and you didn't earn enough money; we can't give you food because that would be slavery".

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2. nradov ◴[23 Oct 25 14:08 UTC] No.45681990[source]▶
The key difference is that in the USA you can also start your own business and obtain food that way. No one will stop you, you can just go ahead and do it. Something like 20-25M people work full time in their own business and have no boss.