Listen To A 60’S Philosopher Predict Bullsh!T Jobs & Universal Income

Alan Watts for a British philosopher who was active from the early 30s through to his death in 1973. Versed in Eastern Mysticism, Watts was probably best known for his interpretations and popularistation of Zen Buddhist philiosophy, authoring The Way of Zen, one of the first Western best sellers on Buddhism. 

Watts also had plenty to say about culture – much of it remarkably prescient. A Youtube user has edited a 4 minute fragment from a longer Watts speech entitled Money, Guilt & The Machine. In this fragment, Watts discusses the nature of work in an increasingly automated society, predicts the creation of what David Graeber has termed bullshit jobs, and notes that the only way out of this collapsing cycle is a guaranteed universal income – an idea that is picking up increasing support in mainstream discussion. Listen to Watts' thoughts below.