This is the comment i came here for. SlateStars previous 'meditations on moloch' considered the idea of complex capitalist systems, and a relentless trend towards efficiency and Survival of participants within the system that eventually snuffs out art, freedom, and results in dire consequences for both the participants and the wider environment.
This interpretation is similar to the one put forward here by Graeber, and as you point out, similarly overestimates the effectiveness of the feedback mechanisms that drive 'fit' or 'fitness' and especially overestimates the willingness or incentive of participants, including corporations as well as workers, to adapt beyond a point where survival, at least for a time, is achieved.
I entirely agree that bullshit jobs exist, and in significant number as a result of a number of factors, but i often suspect that a 'hypercapitalist' system, with greater resource allocation efficiency and price or other signalling, would just be a miserable gig-driven dystopia.
At least with a bullshit job you can condition yourself to relax and enjoy the ride...
This interpretation is similar to the one put forward here by Graeber, and as you point out, similarly overestimates the effectiveness of the feedback mechanisms that drive 'fit' or 'fitness' and especially overestimates the willingness or incentive of participants, including corporations as well as workers, to adapt beyond a point where survival, at least for a time, is achieved.
I entirely agree that bullshit jobs exist, and in significant number as a result of a number of factors, but i often suspect that a 'hypercapitalist' system, with greater resource allocation efficiency and price or other signalling, would just be a miserable gig-driven dystopia.
At least with a bullshit job you can condition yourself to relax and enjoy the ride...