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> Meta - I am honestly surprised, and sightly appalled at the general attitude in these comments (and also in yesterday's thread). >Uber has essentially not ju

by jdasdf 4y ago

> Meta - I am honestly surprised, and sightly appalled at the general attitude in these comments (and also in yesterday's thread). >Uber has essentially not just broken laws, but outright exploited workers/drivers... and people comment "Aah but the local taxi mafia was bad"...??!? I'm sorry but that does not justify exploiting workers. That does not justify using political influence to enter/gain markets. This isn't some messiah coming to save us all from the "horridness of local transport". Except this isn't a david against goliath story like you're implying. The fact is that those laws are not just practically wrong, but they are also morally wrong, and serve primarily to protect entrenched interests, both from the taxi companies, and of the workers who you claim incorrectly are being "exploited". The fact is, if anyone is "using political influence to enter/gain markets" it's the established interests. The taxi companies, the workers, etc... Those very regulations that you are complaining are being broken by Uber, are the the problem! I don't like Uber. I think it's a bad business. But its effects on muscling in on the taxi industry, and its blatant breaking of these immoral and economically ruinous laws are quite frankly commendable. Would that we had more companies like this in other areas of the economy with entrenched interests.

runarberg 4y ago
I’m not sure those are the same laws your parent is referring to. Uber was caught engaging in illegal lobbying (which in my vocabulary is simply called bribing officials) and labor violations. In addition to those they also frequently broke traffic laws and transport laws. The former two are the more worrying and what most people are angry about. The latter two are also a concern given the total disregard and emphasis on private profit over public good. Where I come from there are pretty restrictive drug laws which public health officials have frequently pointed out are harmful for people with a substance abuse disorder. In response a non profit organization took a direct action and illegally provided safe use shelters for harm reduction with on-site medical professionals to observe safety. This is an example of somebody braking the laws for a public good. What Uber did was for their own profit, and profit alone, irregardless of any public benefits. In fact there are examples of cities divesting in their public transit systems using ride hailing as an excuse. This is an example of Uber resulting in net harm, regardless of the effect they had on the traditional taxi companies.

by jdasdf 4y ago

runarberg 4y ago

I’m not sure those are the same laws your parent is referring to. Uber was caught engaging in illegal lobbying (which in my vocabulary is simply called bribing officials) and labor violations. In addition to those they also frequently broke traffic laws and transport laws. The former two are the more worrying and what most people are angry about. The latter two are also a concern given the total disregard and emphasis on private profit over public good. Where I come from there are pretty restrictive drug laws which public health officials have frequently pointed out are harmful for people with a substance abuse disorder. In response a non profit organization took a direct action and illegally provided safe use shelters for harm reduction with on-site medical professionals to observe safety. This is an example of somebody braking the laws for a public good. What Uber did was for their own profit, and profit alone, irregardless of any public benefits. In fact there are examples of cities divesting in their public transit systems using ride hailing as an excuse. This is an example of Uber resulting in net harm, regardless of the effect they had on the traditional taxi companies.