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Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

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Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#341
post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber broke the strike by breaking the strike. This absurd focus on whether surge pricing was a multiplier or disincentive is a complete distraction. The taxi drivers reached out and asked Uber for solidarity. They dispatched drivers to break the strike. They made their bed in the court of public opinion, now they can lie in it.

The taxi drivers' strike was in poor taste anyway. "Ok, so people are going to have trouble with airport transportation because of this immigration ban, so let's make it even harder by taking away from transportation options." They not only could have made it harder for those who did eventually manage to clear CBP to get home, but they also made it harder for protesters to get to and from the airport. If I were in ch…

Well that's one way of looking at it. People apparently still could ride Uber and Lyft so they werent really impeding anyones travels to and from the airport.

Another is that NY Taxi which employs many 1st and 2nd generation immigrants were granted one hour of their time to stand up in solidarity for those immigrants being detained without risking their jobs. It's not a case of "union strike" since it's unrelated to labour it's simply a political action. You might not like it but calling their protest "poor taste" is just demeaning.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber broke the strike by breaking the strike. This absurd focus on whether surge pricing was a multiplier or disincentive is a complete distraction. The taxi drivers reached out and asked Uber for solidarity. They dispatched drivers to break the strike. They made their bed in the court of public opinion, now they can lie in it.

But you don't break the strike by removing surge pricing and increasing everyone's pick-up time, you break it by keeping surge pricing, so that the drivers chasing the surge swarm the location in order to boost their earnings.

However the typical activist doesn't get this level of nuance. They apparently employ the reasoning of a 6 year old: case in point (as mentioned earlier,) Lyft was partially funded by Peter Thiel.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#343
post #33

This is an example of the economic principle of goodwill. Uber has a poor reputation that leads to actual losses, but the negative value of the reputation is difficult to quantify. Conversely, Lyft has fostered positive goodwill that strengthens it in indirect ways. This controversy will likely blow over with a small amount of damage, but it's a reminder of the vulnerability that Uber's management style brings to it.…

This is a great take. Honestly, Travis seems like he is a competent CEO and for a pure technology company, he should be admired. The problem is that Uber's interactions with the broader public are so strained.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#344

How does taxi airport strike help travelers?

For any employee the outcome of a labor dispute and its indirect influence on working conditions in their own industry vastly eclipses the inconvenience of being delayed at an airport for an hour, or a day.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#345
post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber is a company, it is not organized in a union. I would never expect them to participate in a strike and effectively order their drivers to stop working. Just like a taxicab company doesn't participate in the strike, but the drivers do. This is like if Coca Cola workers went on strike, and problem blamed Pespi Co of breaking strike by not sending their workers home??

> This is like if Coca Cola workers went on strike, and problem blamed Pespi Co of breaking strike by not sending their workers home?? Well, yes, that's how a general strike works. You expect every worker in the field to follow. This is not a strike to get better conditions within one company, this is a strike toward a governmental action.

You expect workers to follow, not their companies to order them!

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#346
It will be most interesting to see whether Kalanick follows through with his promise to discuss the EO with Trump [0], and whether having a seat at Trump's shiny business table actually amounts to anything. If it does not, it proves that the council only serves as a prop to promote Trump. This administration is not beyond using cheap props for marketing purposes. [1]

If the council holds no actual sway, Kalanick should then visibly and publicly resign from it if he truly stands behind his commitment to fairness. I'm withholding judgement until then.

0. http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick-will...

1. http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_slatest/201...

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#347
post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't understand protest. Sure, one thing you can do is disrupt the specific people doing something bad. But that's pretty rare. As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore: "Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is…

> As MLK explains, the point is to create a more general disruption so that everyone has to take notice of an issue they might otherwise ignore The problem with this approach is that unless you do it in a way that's relevant to the original issue, you're just dragging innocent people into your fight and victimizing them. Depending on how much of an asshat you are to them (like, say, stranding them for several hours a…

It was only 1 hour. Doesn't anyone ever protest in America? It feels like this concept is so new to you.

Yes - some people might be less sympathetic, those are not the people the protest set out to influence. It's the people who haven't made up their minds yet, the people who think that "This will all blow over soon" and want to get on with their lives in their bubble. They NEED to be inconvenienced to react, to make up their mind that this is something they can't ignore. Only then when you engage the apathetic can the protest grow, and protests must grow otherwise most of them fizzle.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#348
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling out people for staying silent under Obama is not a tactic. It's just a way to highlight a person's motivation.

It's an intellectually honest way to point out inconsistency. The hypocrisy is asymmetric from my pov. I know people who were horrified Obama got elected and some indulged in variations of the 'he's Hitler' BS, but the current reaction by the extreme neo-left is a magnitude of order worse. There's plenty (a majority I bet) of Dems that are not making that mistake, but the echo chamber prevents them from speaking unle…

> Obama got elected and some indulged in variations of the 'he's Hitler' BS

Being called Hitler by "some" after simply being elected, unrelated to any action is definitely useless "Hitler BS".

> but the current reaction by the extreme neo-left is a magnitude of order worse

Drawing parallels to current actions might be hyperbolic or extreme or unfair, but not as dumb - definitely not orders of magnitude.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#349
post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uber is a company, it is not organized in a union. I would never expect them to participate in a strike and effectively order their drivers to stop working. Just like a taxicab company doesn't participate in the strike, but the drivers do. This is like if Coca Cola workers went on strike, and problem blamed Pespi Co of breaking strike by not sending their workers home??

> This is like if Coca Cola workers went on strike, and problem blamed Pespi Co of breaking strike by not sending their workers home?? Well, yes, that's how a general strike works. You expect every worker in the field to follow. This is not a strike to get better conditions within one company, this is a strike toward a governmental action.

Causing financial damage and harm to people/companies not responsible for the Trump's immigration rule is pure stupidity and wrong. If Uber as a company doesn't want to be part of it, it's their choice to do so.

Re: Lyft surges to the top 10 on App Store following the “DeleteUber” campaign

#350
post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Calling out people for staying silent under Obama is not a tactic. It's just a way to highlight a person's motivation.

It's an intellectually honest way to point out inconsistency. The hypocrisy is asymmetric from my pov. I know people who were horrified Obama got elected and some indulged in variations of the 'he's Hitler' BS, but the current reaction by the extreme neo-left is a magnitude of order worse. There's plenty (a majority I bet) of Dems that are not making that mistake, but the echo chamber prevents them from speaking unle…

Exactly the reason I don't have a more accepting attitude when it comes to left wing positions I might actually agree with. My political disagreements are what they are but the idea of providing any validation to what amounts to Bolshevik-style tactics keeps me on the sidelines.

As an example: I am a free market libertarian who agrees with marriage equality, but the means by which 'activists' attempt to engage issues turns me off. For example, harassing Mike Pence at his house -- I found that tactic childish and off-putting and immature (and divisive) as well as ineffective. Those tactics don't create positive change, they promote Balkanization of people who might otherwise be convinced to agree with a reasonable position.

France's violent anti-Uber protests -- regardless of issue, I'm less likely to listen to potentially reasonable positions when they are presented in violent or disruptive ways. In fact, those sort of things make me less likely to consider their views.

When a child screams for chocolate -- that's less compelling than if they ask in a reasoned, mature way, presenting facts and arguments rather than throwing things and parading around the house in perpetual outrage.

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