I think that’s the right source material to answer the comment’s question, but the wrong answer.
The central idea of that book is that the most necessary labor is devalued under hierarchy in order to inflate the importance of unnecessary roles. Not that unnecessary labor is created to keep people occupied. It is, but the unnecessary labor inventoried in that book by Graeber are mostly decently-paid white collar jobs, used to illustrate the fact that even do-nothing cushy roles are paid better than our most essential workers.
I think that’s the right source material to answer the comment’s question, but the wrong answer.
The central idea of that book is that the most necessary labor is devalued under hierarchy in order to inflate the importance of unnecessary roles. Not that unnecessary labor is created to keep people occupied. It is, but the unnecessary labor inventoried in that book by Graeber are mostly decently-paid white collar jobs, used to illustrate the fact that even do-nothing cushy roles are paid better than our most essential workers.