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Comment by BurningFrog | Hacker News Reader

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BurningFrog·

You have no idea what serfs are.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serfdom

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How can you even make such a definitive statement?

>There is no commonly accepted modern definition of feudalism, at least among scholars

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feudalism

The definition offered in the first paragraph of that article seems to conjure the exact same imagery in my head that the parent post did. How exactly is he parent off base with this comparison?

The second paragraph:

"As with slaves, serfs could be bought, sold, or traded (...), abused with no rights over their own bodies, could not leave the land they were bound to, and could marry only with their lord's permission."

Does anyone really think this is how Uber drivers live?

You could argue yes but on a grander scale. There are many laws that cover what you can do to your own body and the government claims the output of your labor as theirs. Trump just tried to buy Greenland and the inhabitants. You require papers to leave the country and permission to revoke your citizenship. Marriage (a religious institution) licenses were originally created to prevent different ethnicities from union and are still used to prevent same sex marriages.

Could also be that common usage of words tend to change over time, maybe?

Ill refer you to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colloquialism which is how I am using the word as this is a forum and not a research paper.

They have very little control over their lives and work, Uber does not let them set prices and they arent making enough money to go retire early. I refer to them as serfs in that they have to answer to Uber with no actual negotiating power on their own.

I've driven myself. You drive whenever you want, and can quit without even telling Uber.

How is that "they have to answer to Uber"?

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