
The gig is up: America’s booming economy is built on hollow promises - ciconia
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/gig-economy-us-trump-uber-california-robert-reich
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mdorazio
Best quote from the article for me: "At the rate gig work is growing, future
generations won’t have a minimum wage, unemployment insurance, worker’s
compensation for injuries, employer-provided social security, overtime, family
and medical leave, disability insurance, or the right to form unions and
collectively bargain."

When I talk to gig workers about why they're driving for Uber, charging
scooters, ghost writing, etc. even when the answer is (increasingly rarely)
along the lines of saving for a vacation or paying off debts, I can't help but
think to myself, "does anyone remember when American workers could afford a
middle class lifestyle and some vacation time every year _without_ having to
work a second job?" It just seems like we're moving backwards even while
people are touting unemployment numbers and cheap disposable goods as
progress.

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trevyn
This feels kind of like saying “future generations won’t have access to
horses, slaves, whale oil, or pocket watches”.

Jobs as we know them today are going to be obsolete in a few generations.

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marak830
Well that's surely a nice theory.

The jobs part not the hyperbole.

Me I prefer to have insurance, protection if I get injured at work and the
whole host of other things myself and my parents fought for.

It's easy to stand up and say you want things differently, until you get older
and have a family. Then you realise those pipe dreams of an easy life doing
what job appeals to you at the moment are the vapid dreams of the young and
lazy.

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RhysU
> According to a recent study, about half of New York’s Uber drivers are
> supporting families with children, yet 40% depend on Medicaid and another
> 18% on food stamps.

Notice that Uber can lean on contract workers so hard because of the social
safety net. In effect, we all subsidize Uber through our taxes.

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ardy42
> Notice that Uber can lean on contract workers so hard because of the social
> safety net. In effect, we all subsidize Uber through our taxes.

If those people are essentially working full time for Uber, the government
should bill Uber back for the costs of supporting its workers with the safety
net.

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RappingBoomer
also, the use of zoning, enviro regs, building codes etc to throttle the
supply of housing so that homeowners get rich is outrageous...cutting down on
living costs by making it easy to build housing, that would go a long way to
making america a better place to live...right now what we have is essentially
extortion via control of laws in order to squeeze people for rent and medical
care

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polotics
This is very similar to a pollution problem: companies abusing and then
dumping discarded humans, a most toxic waste indeed.

