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The right amount is the amount set by the market. I don't understand these people protesting... no one is forcing you to work for Uber.

smallgovt 7y ago
My understanding is that people believe the free market is failing to provide a living wage to a certain class of society. One of the root causes of this failure is technology and automation, so they think it’s just to implement a minimum wage for Uber drivers. One could imagine a world where automation replaces half of the labor force and the free market would essentially allow corporations to rake in enormous profits while the unemployed class gets paid pennies and lives in poverty.
- jumbopapa 7y ago
  > one could imagine Sure, we can imagine it, but it would be asinine to take legislative action now when that isn't even a problem.
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    What's asinine is being so against regulation that we let bad things happen that are easily predictable and preventable. That just makes it easy for the already-rich to stay rich by staying a step ahead of regulation, leaving a path of poverty and other harms in their wake.
dgellow 7y ago
Protesting is one of the tool workers have when negociating with their employer. And I don't see why they wouldn't try to negotiate higher salaries, that's part of how market dynamics work.
- jumbopapa 7y ago
  Sure, that's fine. They're protesting for a government to use force to guarantee their higher wages. I have no problem with someone asking their employer for a higher wage, but just because they aren't productive enough to earn that higher wage doesn't mean the government should be involved.
  - dgellow 7y ago
    > [it] doesn't mean the government should be involved. Yep, I agree with you on this point.
kerkeslager 7y ago
The market is to a large extent set by those at the top of it--who unsurprisingly decide that they are worth the most, and pay themselves billions of dollars. It's true that nobody is forcing you to work for Uber. You can always go to one of the other companies inside the same system with the same incentives that cause them to treat their workers in the same way.
- dymk 7y ago
  The market is certainly not set by the “people on top” and this weird FUDy argument about some elite ruling class only hurts peoples ability to find better paying careers (a gig economy job is not a career)
  - kerkeslager 7y ago
    Let me guess, you think that free markets are naturally stable and fairly competitive, instead of naturally devolving into monopolies where the rich use buyouts, advertising, and bribery/lobbying to make the free market unfree and pull the ladder up behind them.

smallgovt 7y ago

My understanding is that people believe the free market is failing to provide a living wage to a certain class of society. One of the root causes of this failure is technology and automation, so they think it’s just to implement a minimum wage for Uber drivers. One could imagine a world where automation replaces half of the labor force and the free market would essentially allow corporations to rake in enormous profits while the unemployed class gets paid pennies and lives in poverty.

jumbopapa 7y ago
> one could imagine Sure, we can imagine it, but it would be asinine to take legislative action now when that isn't even a problem.
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  What's asinine is being so against regulation that we let bad things happen that are easily predictable and preventable. That just makes it easy for the already-rich to stay rich by staying a step ahead of regulation, leaving a path of poverty and other harms in their wake.

dgellow 7y ago

Protesting is one of the tool workers have when negociating with their employer. And I don't see why they wouldn't try to negotiate higher salaries, that's part of how market dynamics work.

jumbopapa 7y ago
Sure, that's fine. They're protesting for a government to use force to guarantee their higher wages. I have no problem with someone asking their employer for a higher wage, but just because they aren't productive enough to earn that higher wage doesn't mean the government should be involved.
- dgellow 7y ago
  > [it] doesn't mean the government should be involved. Yep, I agree with you on this point.

kerkeslager 7y ago

The market is to a large extent set by those at the top of it--who unsurprisingly decide that they are worth the most, and pay themselves billions of dollars. It's true that nobody is forcing you to work for Uber. You can always go to one of the other companies inside the same system with the same incentives that cause them to treat their workers in the same way.

dymk 7y ago
The market is certainly not set by the “people on top” and this weird FUDy argument about some elite ruling class only hurts peoples ability to find better paying careers (a gig economy job is not a career)
- kerkeslager 7y ago
  Let me guess, you think that free markets are naturally stable and fairly competitive, instead of naturally devolving into monopolies where the rich use buyouts, advertising, and bribery/lobbying to make the free market unfree and pull the ladder up behind them.