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Bullshit jobs also 4) keep a country's population occupied so they don't self-organize and revolt against the country's entrenched power structures.

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I think this is a side-effect rather than intentional.

History proves otherwise. In many cultures, including ancient Greece, China and the roman empire, scholars described that artificially creating employment to prevent social unrest was not uncommon.

Maybe in the past, but these days, it would require unprecedented (in western democracies) levels of direct influence.

On the other hand, the market is itself extremely good at keeping people occupied, chasing ever diminishing salaries.

>levels of direct influence

Um... isn't that exactly what a 'jobs program' is. The US government has a lot of programs with private industry along those lines.

sure, but is the revolt prevented by keeping them busy or by giving them an (albeit bullshit) means of keeping food on their tables? i'm not a historian, but most of the revolts i've learned about were immediately preceded by severe scarcities of essential items.

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