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What exactly are Uber and Lyft free-riding off of? What public service are they abusing by operating a ride-sharing marketplace? In what way are they avoiding t

• lovich 6y ago
  We do not let people in the united states die on the street from medical problems. If someone gets ill or is in a catastrophic accident they are brought to an emergency room and cared for. Despite said hospital sending a bill to the impoverished person, they cannot get blood from a stone. The hospitals are supported by the federal government via various programs like the VA, medicare, and medicaid who increase their prices as hospitals need as the government cannot handle them closing. The free rider issue here is that company's are not paying their employees enough to handle basic maintenance of their bodies, and so public tax dollars are covering their catastrophic care. Eventually everyone will get sick and need to see a doctor. If a company does not pay enough to their employees to get doctor visits than they are paying the basic maintenance costs, in the same way as a corporate fleet of cars not paying for oil changes is not paying for maintenance. The difference here is that when a corporate fleet seizes up we let them fail. When citizens get sick and start dieing we, as a society, have decided its unethical to let them die for lack of funds and cover their health care. Any company who relies on this is a free rider who is making our society pay for their basic maintenance costs