4 ms·

Everything you say is true, but the vested rent-seeking interests of the medallion holders that for years caused untold costs to people who needed transportatio

by krrrh 9y ago

Everything you say is true, but the vested rent-seeking interests of the medallion holders that for years caused untold costs to people who needed transportation, and to the economy as a whole, was also despicable. Money was already overwhelming the will of everyone who couldn’t get a cab, who had to buy a car they didn’t want to own, and who had to put up with a higher percentage of drunk drivers. Just because it was that way for decades and few imagined it could be different, it didn’t make it right. It’s like the quote from the Chronicles of Riddick, “sometimes the only way to stop evil is not with good. You must confront it with another kind of evil”.

crdoconnor 9y ago
I think Goldman Sachs took an Uber stake around the time it dumped it's medallions. So the identity of the rent seekers at the top hasn't even changed. But you use an app now... so, yay? I think anybody who takes a rent seekers' side over even the most despicable politician doesn't deserve to live in a Democracy.
- rtx 9y ago
  As a rent seeker, democracy protects me.
  - crdoconnor 9y ago
    No, as a rent seeker donations to politicians and think tanks protect you. More democracy puts your rents at risk.
forapurpose 9y ago
> untold costs This really turns taxi service into some great horror. Uber didn't cure cancer or even invent the Internet (nor is it cheaper than cabs in cities I've been in); they just made a marginal improvement in one form of transportation, partly by using massive wealth to take on losses and by imposing externalities on others: The cost of cars on the drivers, safety on the passengers, traffic on the rest of the city (a big reason for medallions, afaik, was to avoid the traffic jams that Uber creates in cities). Cabs worked fine for many years, and still do. > It’s like the quote from the Chronicles of Riddick, “sometimes the only way to stop evil is not with good. You must confront it with another kind of evil”. Evil? Cabs are evil? If we're getting our philosophy from the Chronicles of Riddick, it suddenly all makes sense. The better sources of philosophy would disagree. So should anyone who wants be able to break laws and abuse people? If the only justification you need is that cab service isn't great, what good are laws?

by krrrh 9y ago

crdoconnor 9y ago

I think Goldman Sachs took an Uber stake around the time it dumped it's medallions. So the identity of the rent seekers at the top hasn't even changed. But you use an app now... so, yay? I think anybody who takes a rent seekers' side over even the most despicable politician doesn't deserve to live in a Democracy.

rtx 9y ago
As a rent seeker, democracy protects me.
- crdoconnor 9y ago
  No, as a rent seeker donations to politicians and think tanks protect you. More democracy puts your rents at risk.

forapurpose 9y ago

> untold costs This really turns taxi service into some great horror. Uber didn't cure cancer or even invent the Internet (nor is it cheaper than cabs in cities I've been in); they just made a marginal improvement in one form of transportation, partly by using massive wealth to take on losses and by imposing externalities on others: The cost of cars on the drivers, safety on the passengers, traffic on the rest of the city (a big reason for medallions, afaik, was to avoid the traffic jams that Uber creates in cities). Cabs worked fine for many years, and still do. > It’s like the quote from the Chronicles of Riddick, “sometimes the only way to stop evil is not with good. You must confront it with another kind of evil”. Evil? Cabs are evil? If we're getting our philosophy from the Chronicles of Riddick, it suddenly all makes sense. The better sources of philosophy would disagree. So should anyone who wants be able to break laws and abuse people? If the only justification you need is that cab service isn't great, what good are laws?