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If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. -Thomas Jefferson This has never been more true when it comes to ride shar

If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. -Thomas Jefferson This has never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies. Monopolies benefit next to nobody, while Uber benefits a lot of people.

waterlesscloud 12y ago
"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. -Thomas Jefferson This has never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies." Seriously? Never been more true? Prohibiting unlicensed rides-for-hire (it's not 'ride sharing') is more unjust than say...Jim Crow laws?
- hyperbovine 12y ago
  Nothing important happened before the Internet.
  - cryowaffle 12y ago
    He pretty clearly said "... never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies."
- GigabyteCoin 12y ago
  Perhaps I embellished my argument slightly. Obviously defeating the taxi monopolies is less important than defeating slavery.
  - smtddr 12y ago
    Your original comment is fine, waterlesscloud is mis-paraphrasing you to make a point. >>This has never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies. ___"WHEN IT COMES TO RIDE SHARING COMPANIES"___, that part of the sentence is important. As in, you didn't say "when it comes to human rights!" or something overly-dramatic like that. You reduced the scope to only ride sharing. And I'm assuming you didn't edit your comment after the replies.
    - GigabyteCoin 12y ago
      >And I'm assuming you didn't edit your comment after the replies. No, I did not. Thank you for backing me up there. I was a bit confused as to his protest of my wording of the comment. I certainly did not mean to say that ride sharing is the most important debate of our time. I only meant that the quote is perfectly fitting to the current situation surrounding ride sharing and the taxi monopolies.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  Obviously so, it inconveniences young well-off white people.
- morganvachon 12y ago
  I think you mentally inserted the word "than" between his words "true" and "when". If he had written it that way, then your indignation would be justified. As it is written, it means that when it comes to ride sharing companies, that quote rings true in a profound way. The way you misread it, it would indeed seem to say that the situation with ride sharing companies violating the law is exactly what old Thomas Jefferson was talking about. But you misread it, obviously.
  - waterlesscloud 12y ago
    I probably did mentally insert "than", but that doesn't make it any less absurd to use a Jefferson quote in an attempt to elevate this to some sort of righteous crusade. I'm totally missing any "profundity" here, sorry.
    - morganvachon 12y ago
      I'll respectfully disagree; the point was that civil disobedience is valid and necessary when a law is absurd or doesn't serve the good of the people. The fact that one of our founding fathers said it makes it no less relevant or profound today. And I don't even like Uber; I think in general they treat their drivers like crap, and I realize that they are only flouting this law because it stands in the way of their business model. But just as with Tesla (a company I do respect), they are breaking new ground and showing the rest of the country that these archaic laws exist only to protect the establishment. The laws should be reexamined, and if the people find that the laws are incompatible with their needs, the laws should be changed.
tedunangst 12y ago
Today I learned that I am obligated to sign up as an UberX driver. I don't really need the money and I'd rather do other things in my spare time, but if TJ says I've got to, then I've got to.
- GigabyteCoin 12y ago
  You can certainly disobey the taxi monopoly rules in other ways. I pay friends for "gas" when they come and pick me up drunk at the bar, for example. It's not really much different than hiring out UberX.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  "I regret that I have but one scion xb to give to the profits of my company."
sgustard 12y ago
Not a real Jefferson quote. http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations

waterlesscloud 12y ago

"If a law is unjust, a man is not only right to disobey it, he is obligated to do so. -Thomas Jefferson This has never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies." Seriously? Never been more true? Prohibiting unlicensed rides-for-hire (it's not 'ride sharing') is more unjust than say...Jim Crow laws?

hyperbovine 12y ago
Nothing important happened before the Internet.
- cryowaffle 12y ago
  He pretty clearly said "... never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies."
GigabyteCoin 12y ago
Perhaps I embellished my argument slightly. Obviously defeating the taxi monopolies is less important than defeating slavery.
- smtddr 12y ago
  Your original comment is fine, waterlesscloud is mis-paraphrasing you to make a point. >>This has never been more true when it comes to ride sharing companies. ___"WHEN IT COMES TO RIDE SHARING COMPANIES"___, that part of the sentence is important. As in, you didn't say "when it comes to human rights!" or something overly-dramatic like that. You reduced the scope to only ride sharing. And I'm assuming you didn't edit your comment after the replies.
  - GigabyteCoin 12y ago
    >And I'm assuming you didn't edit your comment after the replies. No, I did not. Thank you for backing me up there. I was a bit confused as to his protest of my wording of the comment. I certainly did not mean to say that ride sharing is the most important debate of our time. I only meant that the quote is perfectly fitting to the current situation surrounding ride sharing and the taxi monopolies.
GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
Obviously so, it inconveniences young well-off white people.
morganvachon 12y ago
I think you mentally inserted the word "than" between his words "true" and "when". If he had written it that way, then your indignation would be justified. As it is written, it means that when it comes to ride sharing companies, that quote rings true in a profound way. The way you misread it, it would indeed seem to say that the situation with ride sharing companies violating the law is exactly what old Thomas Jefferson was talking about. But you misread it, obviously.
- waterlesscloud 12y ago
  I probably did mentally insert "than", but that doesn't make it any less absurd to use a Jefferson quote in an attempt to elevate this to some sort of righteous crusade. I'm totally missing any "profundity" here, sorry.
  - morganvachon 12y ago
    I'll respectfully disagree; the point was that civil disobedience is valid and necessary when a law is absurd or doesn't serve the good of the people. The fact that one of our founding fathers said it makes it no less relevant or profound today. And I don't even like Uber; I think in general they treat their drivers like crap, and I realize that they are only flouting this law because it stands in the way of their business model. But just as with Tesla (a company I do respect), they are breaking new ground and showing the rest of the country that these archaic laws exist only to protect the establishment. The laws should be reexamined, and if the people find that the laws are incompatible with their needs, the laws should be changed.

tedunangst 12y ago

Today I learned that I am obligated to sign up as an UberX driver. I don't really need the money and I'd rather do other things in my spare time, but if TJ says I've got to, then I've got to.

GigabyteCoin 12y ago
You can certainly disobey the taxi monopoly rules in other ways. I pay friends for "gas" when they come and pick me up drunk at the bar, for example. It's not really much different than hiring out UberX.
GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
"I regret that I have but one scion xb to give to the profits of my company."

sgustard 12y ago

Not a real Jefferson quote. http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations http://www.monticello.org/site/jefferson/spurious-quotations