5 ms·

You find government owned transit better in this regard?

• masklinn 11y ago
  It could hardly be worse, and there's the remote possibility of holding your government accountable.
  • bsbechtel 11y ago
    Huh? You hold Uber accountable by not using their service. That's much more accountability than being 1 of ~150million votes.
    • pavel_lishin 11y ago
      Apparently 8 million people use Uber. Being 1 of ~8 million isn't significantly better than being 1 of ~150 million, in terms of accountability. But it's a faulty argument, anyway. It's not a single citizen that holds a government accountable, it's the masses, and the media, etc.
      • bsbechtel 11y ago
        Even if it is the masses and media that hold the government accountable, they can still be more effective by pointing their power towards Uber than a government. The media's effect on Nike's labor practices in the mid-90s comes to mind as an example.
        • pavel_lishin 11y ago
          But not a particularly good example, as the labor problem was absolutely not solved by any of the bad publicity: https://rottenindenmark.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/we-are-not-going-to-shop-ourselves-into-a-better-world/ https://rottenindenmark.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/we-are-not-...
          • bsbechtel 11y ago
            Sounds like the bad publicity did help, but as the problems moved, the publicity didn't follow. It also sounds like local governments were more than complicit in allowing these new problems to fester.
            • pavel_lishin 11y ago
              Yup. And the changes in government seem to be sticking.
• donkeyd 11y ago
  In the Netherlands you can get an "anonymous chipcard" to check in to public transportation. There are cameras pointed at every check in point, wouldn't really call it anonymous then...
  • the-dude 11y ago
    Which you typically charge with your bank-card... And if it breaks and you still have money on it? You need to fill out a form for reimbursement which asks EVERYTHING, including your gender!
• Lawtonfogle 11y ago
  In theory, even if not in practice, governments have limits that private companies do not.
  • icebraining 11y ago
    And vice-versa.
• toomuchtodo 11y ago
  A government is (in principle) accountable to its citizens. A private company is only accountable to its owners and shareholders.
  • masterleep 11y ago
    In reality, governments enjoy low accountability compared to private companies that must compete for business. That is why failed government programs hardly ever get replaced.
    • pavel_lishin 11y ago
      I'm less afraid of unreplaced-failed-government-programs, and more afraid of unreplaced-successful-privacy-invading-companies, especially when they have government approval.
    • vtlynch 11y ago
      Private companies may be held more accountable, but they are done so by a much smaller group of people. I think its also fairly evident that when a private company harms the general public, the only thing keeping them accountable is the government.
    • gress 11y ago
      Private companies usually do everything they can to defeat competition - not to engage in it.
      • jazzyk 11y ago
        s/defeat/remove
    • wfo 11y ago
      In reality, private companies enjoy low accountability compared to government because while they perpetuate the myth of a highly competitive market, it isn't so; they are generally inefficient small fiefdoms. And government isn't allowed to keep secrets the way private companies are; and is required by regulation to act in a certain fair and reasonable way. If someone asks you for every email you've sent in the last year and you're a CEO, you give them the finger and laugh. If you work at a government agency, buy a couple thousand reams of paper and start printing.