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why is this special? every time to eat out I'm paying someone to make a meal for me instead of making it myself. I pay the delivery person to get my package to

why is this special? every time to eat out I'm paying someone to make a meal for me instead of making it myself. I pay the delivery person to get my package to me rather than drive myself to the manufacturer. I pay people to make furniture for me rather than building it myself although I did help my dad build some in the past. I pay an accountant to do my taxes instead of doing them myself. I pay people to make clothing even though my mom used to make clothes. what's special about Lyft drivers to Uber Eats? seems like absolutely nothing

coldtea 8y ago
>why is this special? every time to eat out I'm paying someone to make a meal for me instead of making it myself. You don't just order a person waiting for orders to cook you a meal special for you, though, and have their daily income depend on whether you ordered or not. That was a problem restaurant owners had -- which was part of the "risk" in being an entrepreneur. Cooks weren't paid per meal (door-to-door salesmen were paid in commission, musicians might been paid for gigs, etc, but that was the exception not the rule -- working gig per gig was a thing for hobos during the Great Depression). Now this model is getting more widespread ("gig economy").
- gbacon 8y ago
  Everyone works on commission. If you don’t believe me, try not showing up for a few days. An employee’s stable, dependable paycheck is a comforting illusion. When hungry diners abandon a certain restaurant, the cook finds herself unemployed. Not sure whether you intended to use scare quotes around risk or asterisks for emphasis. The entrepreneur’s role is coordinating present production with future demand and placing real-money bets accordingly. That’s no freebie.
  - coldtea 8y ago
    >Everyone works on commission. If you don’t believe me, try not showing up for a few days. You keep using this word, commission. I don't think it means what you think it means. Yes, job's are not for life, and if a business goes under, or if you don't show up, etc, you will get let off/fired. That's not the same as a "per gig" payment. >An employee’s stable, dependable paycheck is a comforting illusion. Well, in many places in the world, it's a concrete reality, protected by law. You can't get fired without notice (and in some places, serious cause), you're given several months pay if you're laid off, and you have legal right to your payment as long as you're employed whether the company has business that day or not (e.g. an off day or week at a restaurant). With a "gig economy" workers, none of these guarantees exists. They're more like freelancers with very small contracts.
    - captainredbeard 8y ago
      FWIW, fewer businesses are started per capita in those countries and they grow slowly, too.
Joe-Z 8y ago
One distinction I could think of is that some of these tasks require intensive training in some field to get the desired outcome (I wouldn't want to sit on the crappy chairs I'd probably make myself), while others can be performed by basically anyone no matter their education.
andrepd 8y ago
If you reread the comment you replied to, here's what's "special" about them: single-task servants for the middle class: (...) the people fulfilling those tasks lack even the basic job security of having a steady employer

coldtea 8y ago

>why is this special? every time to eat out I'm paying someone to make a meal for me instead of making it myself. You don't just order a person waiting for orders to cook you a meal special for you, though, and have their daily income depend on whether you ordered or not. That was a problem restaurant owners had -- which was part of the "risk" in being an entrepreneur. Cooks weren't paid per meal (door-to-door salesmen were paid in commission, musicians might been paid for gigs, etc, but that was the exception not the rule -- working gig per gig was a thing for hobos during the Great Depression). Now this model is getting more widespread ("gig economy").

gbacon 8y ago
Everyone works on commission. If you don’t believe me, try not showing up for a few days. An employee’s stable, dependable paycheck is a comforting illusion. When hungry diners abandon a certain restaurant, the cook finds herself unemployed. Not sure whether you intended to use scare quotes around risk or asterisks for emphasis. The entrepreneur’s role is coordinating present production with future demand and placing real-money bets accordingly. That’s no freebie.
- coldtea 8y ago
  >Everyone works on commission. If you don’t believe me, try not showing up for a few days. You keep using this word, commission. I don't think it means what you think it means. Yes, job's are not for life, and if a business goes under, or if you don't show up, etc, you will get let off/fired. That's not the same as a "per gig" payment. >An employee’s stable, dependable paycheck is a comforting illusion. Well, in many places in the world, it's a concrete reality, protected by law. You can't get fired without notice (and in some places, serious cause), you're given several months pay if you're laid off, and you have legal right to your payment as long as you're employed whether the company has business that day or not (e.g. an off day or week at a restaurant). With a "gig economy" workers, none of these guarantees exists. They're more like freelancers with very small contracts.
  - captainredbeard 8y ago
    FWIW, fewer businesses are started per capita in those countries and they grow slowly, too.

Joe-Z 8y ago

One distinction I could think of is that some of these tasks require intensive training in some field to get the desired outcome (I wouldn't want to sit on the crappy chairs I'd probably make myself), while others can be performed by basically anyone no matter their education.

andrepd 8y ago

If you reread the comment you replied to, here's what's "special" about them: single-task servants for the middle class: (...) the people fulfilling those tasks lack even the basic job security of having a steady employer