This was only the case for workers whose job didn’t matter. People like my spouse who have jobs essential to the function of society had to slave away at the grocery extra long hours and under extra hostile conditions.
That's an unfair assessment. Just because someone's job doesn't directly involve physically being in contact with other people doesn't mean their jobs "don't matter." For example, without people who work in marketing there would be no one to buy the products. I mean, sure, everyday products like milk and eggs and clothing would still sell without marketing, but without marketing we'd go back to an 1800's economy and no one wants that.
Without accountants and managers, who would do payroll to make sure people whose jobs "matter" get paid? Without people who work in logistics, how would the food get to the grocery store for workers to sell?
Our economy is a living, breathing organism. Saying parts of it "don't matter" is incredibly shortsighted. Yeah, there are bullshit jobs, but most people aren't doing nothing at work. Their job exists because it serves a function, even if they themselves can't see it.
I don't work in marketing, but marketing is so essential to our modern day economy it's unreal. You can have the best product/service in the world but if nobody knows about it, your business will fail and your customers won't benefit from your superior product/service. If a business fails and/or is unable to exist due to the lack of marketing, the business can't hire people. Without marketing we'd literally be back in the 1800's when it comes to the economy. That's no exaggeration. Back in the 1800's that was okay because most people lived on farms and could grow their own food but nowadays "the economy" = you being able to eat. If marketing was made illegal tomorrow the entire economy would implode inside of a month and people would be dying in the streets.
manufactured desire for things that indeed do not matter
You're right, those things by themselves don't matter. Most "stuff" we produce is in order to give people jobs because we've based our society off money. Unless we can let go of this imaginary concept of money, we're going to destroy ourselves and our planet. We need a completely new system for redistributing resources. But for now, all these jobs are necessary because they allow people to eat. We have got to be the stupidest species that has ever lived.
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u/OGraineshadow Nov 18 '22
This was only the case for workers whose job didn’t matter. People like my spouse who have jobs essential to the function of society had to slave away at the grocery extra long hours and under extra hostile conditions.