Today’s expanded essay version of @vgr’s thread that I quoted (quoting me back—thanks Venkat!)https://mailchi.mp/ribbonfarm/when-business-as-usual-ends?e=6bc208bc1b …
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Ivan Illich coined the term “shadow work” to refer to mandatory drudgery that is unpaid, not counted in GDP, and seems to have expanded dramatically in past ~20 years: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_work …

@antlerboy,@vgr1 reply 3 retweets 7 likesShow this thread -
“Shadow Work: The Unpaid, Unseen Jobs That Fill Your Day” is a 2015 book about this. I haven’t read it. http://amzn.to/2uRKgYA
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“Bullshit jobs” is the technical term, coined by
@davidgraeber, for the paid aspect. I don’t find his explanation for them convincing, and he didn’t propose a solution in his original viral article, but it’s a good description of the problem. http://evonomics.com/why-capitalism-creates-pointless-jobs-david-graeber/ …4 replies 1 retweet 8 likesShow this thread -
Graeber has a book coming out next month that proposes a theory for why there are so many bullshit jobs (which a naive view would suppose capitalism ought to eliminate).

@againstutopia,@bornwithatail_,@IlariKaila https://amzn.to/2Jrn4Uk1 reply 2 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
In the mean time, “The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy,” also by
@davidgraeber, looks highly relevant, and is now on my to-read list: https://amzn.to/2ErwPho1 reply 2 retweets 7 likesShow this thread -
David Chapman Retweeted Venkatesh brrrRao
Here
@vgr injects his 2x2-fu:https://twitter.com/vgr/status/982358055156310016 …David Chapman added,
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David Chapman Retweeted Stephen Pimentel
Several people pointed out, in different ways, that the problem is not information technology, it’s social technology—or just political will. IT can free us from drudgery—or enslave us. For one example, in many countries taxes are automated. Another:https://twitter.com/StephenPiment/status/981952230759657473 …
David Chapman added,
Stephen Pimentel @StephenPimentReplying to @MeaningnessAgree with all of this. And yet there are also complex services based on mobile apps that work smoothly and well. So it seems that we suffer from pathologies of social organization and governance (interacting with technology), not from technology per se.3 replies 0 retweets 5 likesShow this thread -
David Chapman Retweeted
Several people related awful experiences with unaccountable bureaucracies. This was particularly poignant: https://twitter.com/MorlockP/status/982014577268445184 …
David Chapman added,
This Tweet is unavailable.1 reply 0 retweets 0 likesShow this thread -
David Chapman Retweeted Bill Gates
Although not replying to me specifically :)
@BillGates makes a critically important point here: systems are awful, but they’re way better than previous alternatives. We need to keep them running while we work out better replacements.https://twitter.com/BillGates/status/981532675176505345 …David Chapman added,
Bill GatesVerified account @BillGates“Give the system some credit.” It’s great to celebrate heroes (I do!). But there were heroes 1,000 years ago, and life was awful. Modernity—being able to flush the toilet and turn on the lights—is a miracle of systems plus heroes. pic.twitter.com/c92VUmlbjPShow this thread1 reply 0 retweets 6 likesShow this thread
We *can* do better. Better than running society on half-automated systems—much less reverting to “developing world” status. I ended yesterday’s tweetstorm by linking to a sketch of how. When I get time to write again, I hope to fill in some details.https://meaningness.com/fluidity-desiderata …
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Diversity of temperament is more significant than diversity of ethnicity, gender, etc. A good society has to support different people getting on with different ways of living. In “Desiderata” I analyzed some obstacles to that, and approaches to overcoming them.pic.twitter.com/rlX8Y95LXz
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David Chapman Retweeted Patri Friedman
This tweetstorm from
@patrissimo analyzes a startling example, Rajneeshpuram.https://twitter.com/patrissimo/status/981941273601847296 …David Chapman added,
Patri Friedman @patrissimo1/ "Wild Wild Country" is the most riveting#micronation#documentary I've ever seen. I've never heard#Rajneeshpuram called a micronation, but look at what they did: built, ran, and governed a profitable city including roads, pipes, cops, health, entertainment, and spirituality. pic.twitter.com/4qA0FPlbeTShow this thread0 replies 0 retweets 0 likesShow this thread
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