5 ms·

You're assuming that the people taking the job are fully informed, rational actors, not acting under financial duress. This is not a reasonable assumption for a

You're assuming that the people taking the job are fully informed, rational actors, not acting under financial duress. This is not a reasonable assumption for a near-permanent economic underclass. Your rationale could be extended outward to every adverse outcome for poor: "Well, poor people have higher rates of obesity and cancer because of their poor life choices in eating fast food and smoking." It's a convenient out for the exploiters to blame their victims.

ars 8y ago
> You're assuming that the people taking the job are fully informed, rational actors, not acting under financial duress. This is not a reasonable assumption for a near-permanent economic underclass. Sorry-not-sorry, for assuming people are not idiots. Either they have money to pay bills or they don't. It's not that complicated, and people are not idiots. > "Well, poor people have higher rates of obesity and cancer because of their poor life choices in eating fast food and smoking." And your plan is to what? Micro-manage people's life and tell them what they can, and can't do? > It's a convenient out for the exploiters to blame their victims. It's only exploiting if you trick them, mislead them, lie to them, or force them. Fine print no one reads? Sure, complain about it. Hidden fees and the like? Outlaw those. But a straightforward transaction? What are you complaining for?
- remote_phone 8y ago
  Exactly. They can turn on and off the app whenever they want. There’s no contract. If they want to stop driving they can. If they want to drive for Lyft and Uber at the same time, they can. If they don’t want to drive for 6 months, they can. They can drive one trip a day and turn it off, and they can. There is complete freedom. The only thing these people are complaining about is that they want the freedom to drive for Lyft but they want to get paid more. That’s all it is. There’s no exploitation. But if the wages are too low, find a better job. It’s really that simple.
- intopieces 8y ago
  >Sorry-not-sorry, for assuming people are not idiots. Being uninformed (because a system is complex) and/or acting irrationally (because of financing stress) are not aptly described as "idiocy," which is a value judgement about individuals, not a description of those individuals information. >Either they have money to pay bills or they don't. It's not that complicated. The long term financial heath of individuals and families is complicated. Complicated by information asymmetry, financial uncertainly, and unscrupulous lenders who sell short-term solutions (like lending you money to buy a car that you have to drive to earn enough money to pay for the car -- and then dropping the rate at which you can earn to pay off the car). Usury laws exist, for example, not because people are "stupid," but because well-heeled companies can and do financially exploit people in bad positions. Basically, driving for Uber is a bad idea and almost always not worth it financially for the drivers. And yet people do it. Not because they are idiots, but because start-ups have been able to skirt hard-won labor protections and safety laws to exploit a group of ad-hoc workers, whose time would be better spent collecting welfare checks and gaining marketable skills to land a full time position.

ars 8y ago

> You're assuming that the people taking the job are fully informed, rational actors, not acting under financial duress. This is not a reasonable assumption for a near-permanent economic underclass. Sorry-not-sorry, for assuming people are not idiots. Either they have money to pay bills or they don't. It's not that complicated, and people are not idiots. > "Well, poor people have higher rates of obesity and cancer because of their poor life choices in eating fast food and smoking." And your plan is to what? Micro-manage people's life and tell them what they can, and can't do? > It's a convenient out for the exploiters to blame their victims. It's only exploiting if you trick them, mislead them, lie to them, or force them. Fine print no one reads? Sure, complain about it. Hidden fees and the like? Outlaw those. But a straightforward transaction? What are you complaining for?

remote_phone 8y ago
Exactly. They can turn on and off the app whenever they want. There’s no contract. If they want to stop driving they can. If they want to drive for Lyft and Uber at the same time, they can. If they don’t want to drive for 6 months, they can. They can drive one trip a day and turn it off, and they can. There is complete freedom. The only thing these people are complaining about is that they want the freedom to drive for Lyft but they want to get paid more. That’s all it is. There’s no exploitation. But if the wages are too low, find a better job. It’s really that simple.
intopieces 8y ago
>Sorry-not-sorry, for assuming people are not idiots. Being uninformed (because a system is complex) and/or acting irrationally (because of financing stress) are not aptly described as "idiocy," which is a value judgement about individuals, not a description of those individuals information. >Either they have money to pay bills or they don't. It's not that complicated. The long term financial heath of individuals and families is complicated. Complicated by information asymmetry, financial uncertainly, and unscrupulous lenders who sell short-term solutions (like lending you money to buy a car that you have to drive to earn enough money to pay for the car -- and then dropping the rate at which you can earn to pay off the car). Usury laws exist, for example, not because people are "stupid," but because well-heeled companies can and do financially exploit people in bad positions. Basically, driving for Uber is a bad idea and almost always not worth it financially for the drivers. And yet people do it. Not because they are idiots, but because start-ups have been able to skirt hard-won labor protections and safety laws to exploit a group of ad-hoc workers, whose time would be better spent collecting welfare checks and gaining marketable skills to land a full time position.