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> So basically desperate people ruin everything? What a perfect distillation of the empathy-deficient and contemptuous attitude that a large fraction of rich,

> So basically desperate people ruin everything? What a perfect distillation of the empathy-deficient and contemptuous attitude that a large fraction of rich, fortunate techies have towards everyone else. Qu'ils mangent de la brioche.

tracer4201 7y ago
You cherry picked a part of OPs post. The rest of it is a reasonable argument. You can refute it or otherwise you’re clinging to an emotional argument and not rational one.
wozniacki 7y ago
Let's not infantilize these poor and "desperate" drivers who don't know any better than to be exploited by the technocrats. They were doing no better illegally sub-contracting with illegal sub-lessees of taxi medallions who themselves illegally forked out hundreds of thousands of dollars to wealthy medallion owners who hoarded them and prevented anyone else from legally procuring them. The previous taxi system ( prior to the arrival of ride-hailing apps ) was thoroughly corrupt at every level. I hope thats not up for debate. Immigrant new-arrival drivers would pay daily fixed amounts to illegally "lease" these cabs (on the daily) to those at the bottom of the chain of operators described above. They were already "part-time" (well before the arrival of Uber and Lyft) and weren't afforded many of the protections the medallion issuing body put in place. It was a thoroughly corrupt sham that the governing bodies paid little attention to and hand waived the illegal practices because they were (and are) themselves corrupt rent-seekers who were in bed with those interests they truly protected. The officials knew it. The medallion owners knew it. The sub-vendors knew it. The immigrant daily-wage-slaves knew it. This is why Uber, Lyft and others were such life savers when they arrived. Everyone hated taxi cabs.
- privateSFacct 7y ago
  The CC machine was always broken. Wildly under insured (despite the regulation!) No service in tough neighborhoods late at night when you needed them. Would drive while yelling on the phone. Despite the fares shown (very high) the guys driving looked totally broke. NO WAY were they actually getting the $$.
SilasX 7y ago
That was the trick: the "app" the GP describes already exists! It's called the deposit system on recyclables, and somehow, governments never consider promoting such full time redeemers into employees! Do you think governments should turn away all such recyclables that the homeless bring in on the grounds that they're not making a living wage? If not, you see the legit problem the GP described.

tracer4201 7y ago

You cherry picked a part of OPs post. The rest of it is a reasonable argument. You can refute it or otherwise you’re clinging to an emotional argument and not rational one.

wozniacki 7y ago

Let's not infantilize these poor and "desperate" drivers who don't know any better than to be exploited by the technocrats. They were doing no better illegally sub-contracting with illegal sub-lessees of taxi medallions who themselves illegally forked out hundreds of thousands of dollars to wealthy medallion owners who hoarded them and prevented anyone else from legally procuring them. The previous taxi system ( prior to the arrival of ride-hailing apps ) was thoroughly corrupt at every level. I hope thats not up for debate. Immigrant new-arrival drivers would pay daily fixed amounts to illegally "lease" these cabs (on the daily) to those at the bottom of the chain of operators described above. They were already "part-time" (well before the arrival of Uber and Lyft) and weren't afforded many of the protections the medallion issuing body put in place. It was a thoroughly corrupt sham that the governing bodies paid little attention to and hand waived the illegal practices because they were (and are) themselves corrupt rent-seekers who were in bed with those interests they truly protected. The officials knew it. The medallion owners knew it. The sub-vendors knew it. The immigrant daily-wage-slaves knew it. This is why Uber, Lyft and others were such life savers when they arrived. Everyone hated taxi cabs.

privateSFacct 7y ago
The CC machine was always broken. Wildly under insured (despite the regulation!) No service in tough neighborhoods late at night when you needed them. Would drive while yelling on the phone. Despite the fares shown (very high) the guys driving looked totally broke. NO WAY were they actually getting the $$.

SilasX 7y ago

That was the trick: the "app" the GP describes already exists! It's called the deposit system on recyclables, and somehow, governments never consider promoting such full time redeemers into employees! Do you think governments should turn away all such recyclables that the homeless bring in on the grounds that they're not making a living wage? If not, you see the legit problem the GP described.