Carl Johan von Seth: Nine out of ten swedes is not as the cartoon character Dilbert

But there are no patients!

In a section of the british 80-new series ”Yes, minister” is reached, the main character Jim Hacker, minister of state at the administrationsdepartementet, of an ominous rumor going around a new hospital in London.

Admittedly employs 500 employees. The only problem is that departments lack both healthcare professionals and patients.

”the Hospital's basic functions must be maintained,” explains the staff from the sjukhusstaben while they show the Hacker around in the empty operating theatres. And by the way we have been nominated for a prestigious prize – the region's most hygienic hospitals.

the year before the cynicism in ”Yes, minister” – where the cape low against the policy and the public sector – also directed towards the bulging bureaucracy, låtsasuppgifter and pointless meetings.

the cartoon Character ”Dilbert,” which broke through in the 90s, is an example: ”hypothetically, would anyone notice if we found the numbers instead?”

In the modern service economy learn such doubts continue to gnaw.

We have gone from a nödtorftsekonomi, marked by hard work on poor fields, to an advanced industry. And from industry to an economy dominated by a myriad of private and public services that outsiders often don't understand the point of, writes Carl Johan von Seth.

in the autumn made an attempt to measure the extent to which the swedes are working with things that feel meaningless.

Link to the graphics

the Question is, of course, a little metaphysical. Anthropologist David Graeber, who put forward his theory in the book of ”Bullshit jobs”, admits that the answer can't be objective. The solution, according to him, to let people judge for themselves. He has pointed to studies in the Uk and the Netherlands to overwhelming evidence that an army of employees working with the things that they themselves think is pointless.

The evidence Graeber highlights – ranging from telemarketers to well-paid corporate lawyers in obscure areas – are specious.

nevertheless it was not to be. Two of the three in the DN/Ipsos survey think that their job helps to make the world better. Almost nine out of ten believe that the employer's operations would be adversely affected if not carried out their tasks.

the Glass is more than half full, especially when you consider the developments in the labour market over the past 150 years. We have gone from a nödtorftsekonomi, marked by hard work on poor fields, to an advanced industry. And from industry to an economy dominated by a myriad of private and public services that outsiders often don't understand the point of.

Link to the graphics

in Spite of this radical transformation seems a wide majority, to be at peace. Never before have the opportunities been greater to work with something that is stimulating and pleasant.

turn on the roast and with the DN/Ipsos figures note that at least 10 per cent of swedes have jobs that they themselves do not seem to think is of no use. Although it is difficult to say if the figure should be considered as high or low, it is possible to conclude that many are unsafe in the big cities.

To minimize the proportion ought to be seen as important. Whether people engage in things that bring joy or benefit to others is actually a sensible measure of whether the economy works.