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Comment by vlaaad | Hacker News Reader

...Unless it's advetising. Or Uber. Or government wanting you to implement yet another freedom-restricting bullshit.

I believe that over time your environment shapes you. I agree that you should devote your working hours to something more than shareholder value or increased clickthrough rates. Sure you can pull down the big bucks working on the next version of biological warfare weaponry and make large donations to Red Cross or whatever, but not without a personal toll.

Or do work for those places if you don't find them morally questionable.

A better rule is: just don't take a job in which your negative impact on the society will be greater than the positive impact of the money you donate.

> Or Uber.

There are plenty of companies 10x worse than Uber. Hivemind.

That there are worse companies than Uber doesn't make Uber good, or even worth working for.

Ummmmmm but Uber made the world a better place? (for me anyway)

Sorry, I said Uber a bit provocative. I meant companies doing unethical things and asking you to do unethical things.

Which Uber is definitely a good example of, but I agree it was a bit provocative :).

Did it make your world a better place, or just add a bit of convenience whose cost was distributed to people you don't know?

Well, the benefits are also distributed to people I don't know, so this type of accounting is tough.

Disrupting the taxi mafia has definitely made the world a better place.

Did the "taxi mafia" encourage a class of laborers who sleep in their cars for less than a minimum wage while depriving them of any kind of protections normally associated with employment?

...yes?

Are you really unfamiliar with how medallion owners used to treat their drivers?

Perhaps I have rose colored glasses, but the "sleeping in the car" problem seems new. But I could very well be wrong.

That said, how are we really in a better place? Same problem, different master.

There is an early NYT article (early in the context of Uber's lifespan) detailing a day when a cab driver in NYC ended up paying his employer a few hundred dollars for the privilege of working that day. This was after all his fares for the shift.

> But what if drivers don’t make enough to cover their rental charges? The company has clearly considered this possibility, as it’s included in a program FAQ. “No problem,” Uber says. “When you pick up your vehicle, Enterprise will take your valid credit or debit card to place on file. In the event of a difference, Enterprise will automatically charge the outstanding balance to the card on file.” See? No problem.

https://qz.com/563622/ubers-new-car-rental-program-for-drive...

I work in advertising and I don't think it's immoral or unethical.

Advertising is about creating artificial problems and needs, making the world a shittier place for profit. Maybe pulling your head out of your ass would help?

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