5.2.5 Jobbing to Vocation

Although systems of oversight function at a macroeconomic level, their impact on people’s lives and jobs can be seen in many microeconomic ways. Although a job and a vocation can both be described as “work,” the latter implies significance while the former just demands subsistence. The economy operates under the assumption that jobbing serves as the primary method of providing. To put it another way, if you don’t have a job, you won’t be able to support your family or yourself. This arrangement ignores the aspect of work that has significance; even if you are fortunate enough to land a job, there’s a considerable chance it won’t be meaningful. In his 2018 book Bullshit Jobs: A Theory, anthropologist David Graeber details how many workers and contractors describe their jobs as useless in their own words.

What could work be? What kind of world would it be if people could devote the majority of their waking hours to fulfilling work? What population traits would be needed to realize this potential? What kind of capacity would the economy need? Real economic constraints include those related to natural resources, labor hours, human and environmental well-being, available technologies, and educational opportunities. The money supply of sovereign states and its distribution, in contrast to these natural restrictions, are within the purview of human agency. Its regulations are fabricated and regenerable.