David Graeber: since the 70s, society has generated "bullshit jobs" (that contribute nothing to society's well-being overall) to keep people employed and and keep leisure time down. Meanwhile, academia has kicked out the oddballs, who have been forced into bullshit jobs.

It seems plausible for the period 1970-2007. This does not have to be an intentional scheme — here's a way it could happen without any plan. Suppose there are many ways that businesses could get into an arms race of nonproductive competition. The extent of nonproductive competition actually practiced will be controlled by macroeconomic factors such as the level of unemployment. Thus, as productive work becomes obsolete, it makes room for bullshit to expand.

However, I think this changed with the financial crisis. Nowadays, business tends to leave people in Mcjobs rather than employing them for bullshit. Why the change? Perhaps there used to be enough residual democracy that business was pressured to employ people. Now the plutocrats have defeated democracy, so they can please themselves.