LAW v BIG TECH: End Or RISE of Bullshit Jobs?
Speaking of BS Jobs, Judicial, Executive and Legislative Branches are charged with corruption, concealing ‘Classified’ documents and taking bribes. Army Officers and Agents ‘traded’ or publicly exposed National Security secrets.
Google verdict, Antitrust or BS?
Microsoft and DuckDuckGo, are said to benefit from a verdict against Google. Sure, ‘no honor among thieves”? 🙂
DOJ & FTC, Trust & Verify?
Looking for a job, back in the fun days, I’d start out bright-eyed and dressed sharp, ready to take on the world!
A new building caught my attention! No appointment, I simply walked in and found myself in what looked like a “Big” version of a colorful children’s playpen with toy-like gadgets.
Suddenly, an adult walks in to greet me. “Where are the children?” I asked. Of course, I was being funny. She either didn’t get the joke or didn’t like it.
After a nice chat, I left. I caught a glimpse at the many cameras and enlarged colorful letters on the side of the building, GOOGLE
Driving away, I then passed the Newport Beach Courthouse in California, where I worked once upon a time. Contrast was indisputable. Decrepitated justice buildings with archaic structures and furniture to match, civil servants appeared trapped. Offices not unlike those of financial monstrous moguls of yesteryear.
It was night and day. Past and Future.
‘Gmailed Tickets’ or “textpay”
Funny to hear from Bloomberg on September 21, 2023 that “The US Department of Justice has removed public access to emails, charts and internal presentations from Alphabet Inc.’s Google that had come out as evidence in its landmark antitrust lawsuit against the tech titan.”
The Courthouse, it all comes back to me – systems rooted with bureaucratic blast of inefficiencies. At times, resulting in victims of Arrest Warrants for wrongly issued FTAs (Failure to Appear) or Suspension of Driver’s License.
Executive and Founder of a software logistics company in San Francisco was one such victim. I was both able and willing to resolve the matter, or as she noted in her letter to the Court, “Leticia unsnarled in minutes a year long mix-up.”
Finally, the Court would listen to my ideas, or so I thought. But no one was interested – Co-workers, Manager, Judges, Attorneys, Law Enforcement…
Then came “Gmail.” Now, for sure they all would see the opportunity – emailed citations or ‘Gmailed Tickets ’ And all its possibilities: paperless citations and notices, scanners and digitized convenience for police, less overhead of ticket processors, storage space, etc. Not a chance!
Google, did this idea cross your brain or ‘deepmind’? If so, did you too face the same pushback?
Yep, I learned early “Red Tape” is by design. Government work is not about preventing or solving problems. Hell, it’s designed to work them to death, as their workers. More bullshit work, more bullshit jobs.
Ludicrous that in the digital age of Internet and Apps, tons of paper is used to obtain court documents. According to Arstechnica the “senior vice president of public policy at business reviews app Yelp…mostly relying on instant transcripts, which cost $1.20 per page and run over 300 pages per day.” In the end, ‘tens of thousands of dollars.” More like a ‘fool’s errand.’
Now, multiply that exponentially across criminal-traffic-civil cases. And yet, utility and bank customers as private sector have long opted for paperless billing!
Future? “textpay!” Imagine a Cop stopping your driverless car for speeding while picking up your pizza! 🙂 Hmm, will she ‘stop, search and frisk’ it when she pulls it over?
Why not text you the fine via the smartphone number linked to your scanned license plate number – “textpay.” Think of your smartphone and driverless vehicle as your ‘BFFs.’ Better still, send my clone or ‘deepfake’ to appear before the judge! 😉
‘Driving While Bad’? A simple solution to ‘traffic tickets’ would be for an officer to enter violation code, scan driver’s license and have court system mail a notice liken to a ‘jury summons’ where one checks status of citation on court website (fine and/or appear in court).
Recall ‘PayPal’? In a New York Times article, we find Peter Thiel, “the co-founder of PayPal,…describing himself as a “political atheist,” said that people should spend less time trying to change the system than simply creating things outside it. And the key to progress, he said, may not be more democracy.”
Peter, well said. But unlike those with money and influence, it’s not so easy for the rest of society whose only options are to fight or ‘beat the system’ at its own game. Or, as in other systems, is it best to simply ‘throw a wrench’ into it?
Working in ‘the system,’ of law, I found it is not conducive to ‘progress,’ least of all tech. Opponents to the idea of linking one with the other argue it is subject to the ‘law of unintended consequences.”
So why the pushback on ‘Gmailed Tickets’? Privacy concerns and expense were among the many factors. Hmm, public didn’t appear too concerned about the “Patriot Act” and infringement of rights. Social media? Again, Congress was inept to prevent privacy issues.
Hackers accessing data from public and private sectors has proven successful in big “ransom” payouts. As to hacks, Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a joke. An underhanded gimmick government and other agencies use to make the public feel ‘secure’ in offering their personal data. But it sure made it easy to monetize it!
Concern for your drivers’ license data? So why would you give it to doctors, clinics and hospitals? Better still, why do they now require it?
If the Feds attempt was to ‘modernize’ health system, it seems fitting they’d do the same with the Justice System. Nope, LAW is fighting ‘tooth and nail’ to reserve its AUTONOMY.
Health industry is huge with lots of money to be made. But just think what you could do with Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and State & Federal Court systems? 😉
“No Justice, No Profits!”
Is the Justice Department controlling these systems? Seems like ‘unfair competition’ when they’re only going after “Google for Monopolizing Digital Advertising Technologies.”
Online flea market is off limits – consumerism tied to economy. Right, the factory and delivery company masked as a ‘tech.’
Comical when you hear Attorney General Merrick B. Garland. “No matter the industry and no matter the company, the Justice Department will vigorously enforce our antitrust laws…”
Garland, I understand you missed the opportunity to be Supreme Court Justice, but aren’t you being overdramatic? One can almost picture you holding that gavel. Also, in last Wednesday’s ‘Justice Oversight’ hearing, it appeared you confused the meaning of fallacy with fullofshit.
If Garland was being overdramatic, little lisa may have been confused. In her remarks, Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco noted, “Google has caused great harm to online publishers and advertisers and American consumers.”
Lisa, lisa, lisa, when you talk about causing ‘great harm to…American consumers,’ Fentanyl Cartels, BigPharma, Companies dumping toxic chemicals and the Railroad companies burning up their crash mess (Palestine) are who you should be after. Lisa, spoken to the folk at Norfolk Southern?
Sure, I get it. It’s not fun getting passed over for a top role. Of course, you can’t plead gender bias. I mean, both Google and Facebook appointed Sheryl. But keep smiling. I’m sure you’ve heard of the gov/tech revolving door for BS jobs! 🙂
And let’s give credit where credit is due. Or were you again confused in saying, “This lawsuit marks an important milestone in the Department’s efforts to hold big technology companies accountable for violations of the antitrust laws.” Think back now. Right, Microsoft.
Could all this fed fuss be “for losses sustained by federal government agencies that overpaid for web display advertising.” AGAIN?
I hear that “In 2020, the Justice Department filed a civil antitrust suit against Google for monopolizing search and search advertising, which are different markets from the digital advertising technology markets at issue in the lawsuit filed today.”
Wait a sec. It’s ok for the feds to use Google for advertising but not the Courts for processing?
HOWEVER, the Judicial branch misses one important point. They are legally and financially beholden to the People.
“Google is a limited liability company organized and existing under the laws of the State of Delaware…Google’s global network business generated approximately $31.7 billion in revenues in 2021.” Legally and financially powerful!!
Anyone looking for a job? Hmm, Computer Engineer or Civil SERVANT? 🙂
Working/Studying from Home. For or Against?
“Given the choice between less hours and more toys and pleasures, we’ve collectively chosen the latter.” – David Rolfe Graeber
The case for working/studying from home goes against Government, Wall Street and Academia.
The late David Rolfe Graeber, American anthropologist points to “ballooning not even so much of the “service” sector as of the administrative sector…financial services or telemarketing, or the unprecedented expansion of sectors like corporate law, academic and health administration, human resources, and public relations…These are what I propose to call “bullshit jobs.”
Mike Bloomberg, I hear you’d like to see people back in the office 5 days a week. Right, Real Estate, especially in New York, is not doing so hot since offices ‘closed up shop.’
Pretty pricey getting schooled at university too. Shame that ‘teleconferencing’ and streaming didn’t take off in the 1990s. WAIT! Recall InSoft? Yep, they are said to be the pioneers of streaming and ‘CoolTalk’ via a ‘Chat tool. Sound familiar?
Imagine, had big cities utilized a cool ‘Chat tool’ like ‘Zoom’ back in the 1990s, (before September 11th) working from home could have been the norm these past three decades.
Hmm, wonder how many people would have been working from home on September 11? Bloomberg, what do you think?
I think it’s as Graeber notes, “It’s as if someone were out there making up pointless jobs just for the sake of keeping us all working. And here, precisely, lies the mystery. In capitalism, this is exactly what is not supposed to happen.”
So WTF happened? Government, Corporations, Real Estate, and University lobbyists – designed to create but not solve problems and make money.
Graeber makes some keen observations in his 2013 essay “On the Phenomenon of Bullshit Jobs” and his 2018 book, Bullshit Jobs.
“In the year 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that technology would have advanced sufficiently by century’s end that countries like Great Britain or the United States would achieve a 15-hour work week…In technological terms, we are quite capable of this. And yet it didn’t happen. Instead, technology has been marshaled, if anything, to figure out ways to make us all work more. In order to achieve this, jobs have had to be created that are, effectively, pointless.”
But in a twist of faith, it did happen, sort of. Graeber, who passed away early into the 2020 pandemic, may have felt vindicated.
Shutdowns meant staying home – working and studying. After three years, both the public and private sector want workers and students back in the office and classroom. So what’s there to do?
Says Graeber, “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.”
My response? Yes and NO. Immorality is not only reserved to corporate feigns and politicians. Society is comprised of humans, humans that err and sin. Problem is government equating ethics with the law. And in turn creating unenforceable laws or deregulating the robust ones in place. Ergo, BS jobs!
Also, there is an ironic twist! A certain segment of the population did and does put itself in ‘mortal danger’ due in large part to ‘free time on their hands.” BUT, I find this same group was NOT ‘happy and productive’ to begin with.
Fooled or “Fucked?” MONKEY SEE, BUT MONKEY NO DO
“No one born after the turn of the century has known anything but a world uprooting its foundations, overturning its values and toppling its idols.” – Peter Drucker
Left “high & dry” are the many round pegs fooling themselves trying to fit into few square holes. Once again, I am reminded of actor Robert De Niro’s words to a graduating class, “You’re Fucked.”
Recent rave of AI generated works of language and art would likely not have come as a surprise to those having read Graeber’s insightful words:
“What does it say about our society that it seems to generate an extremely limited demand for talented poet-musicians, but an apparently infinite demand for specialists in corporate law? (Answer: if 1% of the population controls most of the disposable wealth, what we call “the market” reflects what they think is useful or important, not anybody else.)… In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever met a corporate lawyer who didn’t think their job was bullshit.”
Does the end or rise of bullshit jobs mean the end of the “professional?” And what the hell does it even mean anymore? Doesn’t having a profession make one a professional – be it a banker or plumber?
Today, debate is ongoing as to White Collar v Blue Collar. Reality is the ‘Essential Workers,’ the professionals: truck drivers, dock workers, plumbers, electricians, welders, firefighters, police, nurses, teachers…. are retiring and not being sufficiently replaced.
For all of society’s advancements, we’ve actually gone backwards in time. Up to the 1960s, milk and groceries were delivered to peoples’ front doors by Professionals. Wave to taxi or call a cab and a licensed Professional from a Professional company was at your feet or front door.
Clearly, somewhere along the way, standards were lowered so that anyone (qualified or not) is hired for these jobs. Now the bar has reached a ‘point of no return.”
Hell, people have been convinced an App is better suited than a Professional Physician or Nurse to give you a health exam. Now, which do you think Elite or those with good health benefits choose?
A.I., designed for GenZ? Want Tech job? Ok, but there’s a catch! 1 opening. Hundreds of applicants. Do the math! But got tons of jobs monitoring social media posts! Right, reading cool comments but mostly a lot of BS!
Hey, hear there’s plenty of openings for Baristas, Shoppers, Baggers, Burger Flippers, etc. And don’t forget an Amazonian factory floor to pack and shelve!
It appears Keynes’ technological prediction of a shorter workweek did not count on the impact of smart phones and Web 2.0, much less the power of the computer. So what does your future hold? According to the late Peter L. Bernstein,
“Nothing is more soothing or more persuasive than the computer screen [but] those who live only by the numbers may find that the computer has simply replaced the oracles to whom people resorted in ancient times for guidance in risk management and decision-making.”
International crisis of shortage in essential jobs with governments frantic to find replacements may find Graeber’s next statement eerily prescient:
“…what would happen were this entire class of people to simply disappear? Say what you like about nurses, garbage collectors, or mechanics, it’s obvious that were they to vanish in a puff of smoke, the results would be immediate and catastrophic. A world without teachers or dock-workers would soon be in trouble, and even one without science fiction writers or ska musicians would clearly be a lesser place.”
No doubt Graeber was an individual ahead of his time. He clearly ‘saw the writing on the wall,’ few cared or didn’t want to see. I find his bold insightful words refreshing in a world where it seems people are in a hypnotized state resembling ‘the walking dead.’
Ironically, a state of being closely resembling Legislature. In a recent hearing on AI Regulation, Rep. Josh Hawley appeared worried teenagers would lose their fast food ‘drive through’ job. Really? What of trade and skilled jobs SOLD OUT to China?
As to 13 year olds at risk for online sexual content? Be a Parent! Got two choices: Either you monitor your kid 24/7 OR like television, give them no access. Period. Tech corporations are not baby sitters. Didn’t you learn anything from social media companies?
You’re asking Microsoft and Nvidia about training? WTF, America’s K-12 is 20 years behind NATO countries! Right, K-12 is about free welfare+babysitting. Hmm, but no free college?
Richard Blumenthal argued, “China cannot steal our people.” Dick, ‘Steal’ them to do what? Flip burgers or serve coffee to Chinese? Drive them to what was once an American job?
Steal Americans? Dick, you got that ass backward. It’s been US plan all along, creating asylum pipelines: Mexico, China, Middle East, Ukraine………
You speak of “moral compass?” US, you lost it in the 1930s denying asylum to Jews from Germany and Europe, nuking Japan, failed idealistic war against Vietnam, corrupt drug and weapon deals leading to death of Central Americans, invading Iraq and Afghanistan under false pretenses…
Congress, government shutdown during the pandemic and country lockdown gave everyone pause to reflect and make critical observation – Country’s got too many BS Jobs, starting with government. And since it’s on the People’s dime, SHUT IT DOWN NOW!
Again, Graeber says it best:
“Even more perverse, there seems to be a broad sense that this is the way things should be. This is one of the secret strengths of right-wing populism. You can see it when tabloids whip up resentment against tube workers for paralysing London during contract disputes: the very fact that tube workers can paralyse London shows that their work is actually necessary, but this seems to be precisely what annoys people.
It’s even clearer in the US, where Republicans have had remarkable success mobilizing resentment against school teachers, or auto workers (and not, significantly, against the school administrators or auto industry managers who actually cause the problems) for their supposedly bloated wages and benefits. It’s as if they are being told “but you get to teach children! Or make cars! You get to have real jobs! And on top of that you have the nerve to also expect middle-class pensions and health care?”
To be sure, some invest in the very markets they critique. Adam Smith is noted in saying “careful to balance moral sentiments against the benefits of a free market.”
To be smart, we may also wish to give heed to John Maynard Keynes’ words, “When the capital development of a country becomes the byproduct of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done.”
Google’s Verdict and Final Ruling on Bullshit Jobs?
DOJ v Google Final Ruling? I suspect it will be Precedented, but with a surprising twist! Either way, I concur with Graeber’ rule:
“It’s not entirely clear how humanity would suffer were all private equity CEOs, lobbyists, PR researchers, actuaries, telemarketers, bailiffs or legal consultants to similarly vanish. (Many suspect it might markedly improve.) Yet apart from a handful of well-touted exceptions (doctors), the rule holds surprisingly well.”
Work and Study are here to stay, at home! Being Unprecedented, the majority have embraced it as the computer, smartphone, and ‘google search.’
Says Graeber, “Clearly, the system was never consciously designed. It emerged from almost a century of trial and error. But it is the only explanation for why, despite our technological capacities, we are not all working 3-4 hour days.”
I find that what I saw as a “Big” version of a colorful children’s playpen with toy-like gadgets, was a sign of what was to come. A Big Tech company providing us all a place to play with gadgets using the ALPHABET to search and “Google it.” Happy Anniversary! 🙂
In any case, I suspect there will be no end to the RISE of Bullshit Jobs!
Wanna learn more about the bullshit? Read “On Bullshit” by Harry G. Frankfurt.