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Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

theguardian.com

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Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#61

Post by eplanit »

satya71 wrote: post #7
jimmar wrote: post #2

Maybe I'm too libertarian-leaning, but doesn't the author of the article have the option of NOT driving for Uber? If California is truly one of the wealthiest economies, the author should be able to find a different line of work.

Have you tried finding work when your education is not in demand? Please don’t minimize other’s lived experience.

A little off topic, but where does this now commonly used phrase "lived experience" that lefties love to use so much come from. Doesn't the word "experience" cover the idea? Is it to differentiate from their reading or television "experiences"? I think the redundant "lived" part is added for dramatic effect.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#62

Post by Minor49er »

maxehmookau wrote: post #26
barry-cotter wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The kind of Christian minister that cares more about, and talks more about social justice than they do about Christ.

You're right, Jesus didn't give a damn about social justice. Christianity and the need for justice and equality are completely separate. /s

"Social justice" and "justice" aren't the same thing. Jesus cared about the latter.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#63

Post by NovemberWhiskey »

pixelbash wrote: post #31
sokoloff wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a fair point, but if your education is not in demand, I don't see a reason to think that driving a car, something that 80+% of American adults are capable of doing, should provide a full household income on 40 hours per week of effort. That initial condition (your education is not in demand) definitely represents a tough position, but it's not clear that it's ride-sharing's "fault" in any way. Instead, it seem…

Sorry, are you saying that working a 40 hour week shouldn't earn a living wage if it's a non-specialised skill?

I think you need to give the parent poster a little more credit. People have all kinds of preferences for employment that go into determining a market-clearing wage.

e.g. it is probably the case that loading garbage onto a truck doesn't require more skill/specialization than driving a car for hire

However, the overwhelmingly vast amount of people prefer to do the job that they can do while sitting down, in an air-conditioned vehicle, vs. the one they have to do surrounded by stinking detritus, outside in all weathers.

Based on my own prejudices, driving a car for hire sits in a relative sweet-spot of low skill, low physical demand, low discomfort. I agree there are undoubtedly personal safety factors that you're more exposed to than, say, flipping burgers at McDonalds.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#64

Post by esrauch »

wavepruner wrote: post #56
tor_anon_1 wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"thank God for these benevolent companies that lobby against universal healthcare and labor unions, so they can then be there for us when we don't have healthcare or union protection" Put another way: "Thank God purdue pharma is now manufacturing the cure[1] for the opioid epidemic that purdue pharma started" 1. https://apnews.com/article/6751b84767e8a1ebbaea6cb628ac2a11

As a disabled person who has also benefitted immensely from Uber, I hear this a lot, and it is really frustrating. No one will help me, especially progressive leaning people. You don't get political or social brownie points for helping disabled people the way you would for other minority groups who are struggling. We are constantly ignored and forgotten. I was in a situation where I needed money for healthcare that w…

I'm confused by the "needed money for healthcare that would never be covered by universal insurance", are you sure such costs wouldn't be covered by NHS or similar had you lived in another country?

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#65

Post by joejohnson »

treeman79 wrote: post #18

Got injured awhile back. Disability decided to play hardball. Gig jobs are all that kept family off the street while I recovered. Starting and stopping anytime as my body could tolerate. Or renting out rooms on Airbnb. Sometimes it took me 4 hours to change sheets and tidy up, but it made the difference. Not saying their good companies. But gigs was crazy valuable to me.

It’s an insane society that would force someone to work through their recovery to an injury in the first place.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#67

Post by kemiller2002 »

rectang wrote: post #47
treeman79 wrote: post #18

Got injured awhile back. Disability decided to play hardball. Gig jobs are all that kept family off the street while I recovered. Starting and stopping anytime as my body could tolerate. Or renting out rooms on Airbnb. Sometimes it took me 4 hours to change sheets and tidy up, but it made the difference. Not saying their good companies. But gigs was crazy valuable to me.

I drove for Lyft for a while while taking a break from software. Then I got t-boned by a red-light runner. Fortunately no one was injured. I was on my way to pick up a passenger, but it was only me in the vehicle. When I went to make my insurance claim to fix several thousand dollars worth of damage to my car, I discovered that despite having done a lot of research when trying to buy the right insurance with a ridesh…

I think this is the key statement to all of this. No one thinks about the risk. Running a business, which in a sense you are doing by being a contractor, is all about managing risk. When I ran a food business, that was 90% of my tasks, and I had to make sure that things continued to run no matter what happened. When you start realizing how exposed you are to bad things happening, it starts to wear on you. What happens if an employee gets hurt, or the food is prepped wrong (and someone dies)? How much money is it going to cost and will it bankrupt you? Companies like Uber and Lyft don't explain that to people. They don't explain the risk they are taking on by earning a few extra dollars. Will most people be ok, sure? Bad things happen even to people who take all the precautions, and it is an expensive and extremely painful lesson to learn.

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#68

Post by maxehmookau »

Minor49er wrote: post #62
maxehmookau wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right, Jesus didn't give a damn about social justice. Christianity and the need for justice and equality are completely separate. /s

"Social justice" and "justice" aren't the same thing. Jesus cared about the latter.

...and he didn't care about the former? Seriously?

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#69

Post by esrauch »

ericabiz wrote: post #51

My husband drives for Uber, and I’m glad the proposition passed as it is. He drives the way Uber was originally envisioned. He goes out some nights if there’s a surge, and in the morning on the way to work he points the app toward our stores and grabs a person (pre-pandemic) or a food delivery (today) on his way in. It pays for gas money, car maintenance, and then some. Some months he makes a few hundred dollars. Som…

It's anecdotal but I always chat with my Uber drivers and nearly 100% of them are driving full time. I assume it's a "most rides are driven by a full-timer, most drivers are part timers" situation.

I don't really see why we need a third category, it should just be that some drivers are full time and some are not. I don't believe that Uber could sufficiently fulfill even half the rides with only the true part timers short of driver incentives also going way up (which would benefit people like your husband).

Re: Gig economy companies spent more than $200M to bankroll Proposition 22

#70

Post by bryanrasmussen »

googthrowaway42 wrote: post #43
maxehmookau wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So because of your bias against a particular... job title? That discounts her entire argument?

The argument discounts itself. Her bio explains why she would make such an argument.

This sounds like some sort of novel logical error, sort of like attacking the man rather than the argument but instead the idea seems to be:

arguments that emit from sources you would expect to be making such arguments are automatically discounted.

This leads to the conclusion that only arguments from unexpected sources are to be trusted - thus criminals who argue that crime is bad and snitches should get riches are to be trusted, but cops who say that crime is bad are not to be trusted on that matter.

I mean, it's a funny kind of idea to hold.

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