I can't say I'm not disappointed with myself over this newly found fountain of knowledge. Sadly, the professor is no longer on this planet, but I do have the consolation that there's a mountain of work for me to learn from.
Bullshit jobs
Somehow I had thought about this for a while, without being able to define it completely in my mind. Like many, I too have participated of society in a very useless way. I've had my share of jobs that do nothing, yet are paid well.
There is no specific person to blame for the culture of a specific society, the individuals of the collective are not truly conscious of their drone-ish participation. Yet, there is no rule that says we, the individual participants, can't wake up from that reality and step out of line, so to speak.
I realize this type of philosophical deep dive is not for everyone, and I should clarify, there is nothing wrong with that. But, it seems to me that if you do open the lid of the box, if you begin to question the value of your contribution to society, there is absolutely no way of shutting down pandora.
Yes, but Anarchism?
There is something about the word Anarchy that hints towards chaos it seems, but this is not true at all.
Graeber was, by his own admission, a devout Anarchist. He saw the institutions for what they really are. Centralized corrupt bodies of population control.
On this front, I've not found a single flaw on his arguments, more so because he admits that full anarchy is not necessarily possible in the real world, in a way that those of us who subscribe to libertarian ideas, will never accept.
I sincerely hope more people take the time to listen to this man. I for one, can't get enough these days.
MenO
It is a fact that we each and all govern ourselves, whether we believe there is or is not some conceivable authority to whom we must defer. It is this that claimants to authority arm thugs to prevent lack of deference to, and why there is no such thing as authority to whom we must defer, because that deference can only be imposed on us by force should we choose to ignore it.
As individuals continue to attain and develop means of production that avail them of modern technology able to secure them from armed thugs, which have greatly improved since the advent of chemically propelled slugs ~1000 years ago, the grasp of overlords continues to slacken, and the freedom of humanity to burgeon and grow apace.
I had been unaware of Dr. Graeber before, and appreciate your sharing his insights with us now, because more than ever before the dangerous deference to authority threatens us, one and all, when our very right to remain human and unaltered from our natural state is under attack globally by armed thugs and psychotic overlords bent on our damnation.
Thanks!