Miniscule labor costs and scant workers rights.
The "gig" economy is simply replicating in the west what has already existed in highly stratified societies for generations now that wealth inequality has finally reached a point where it can be profitable.
I was being driven around by my 18 year old cousin. At some point, just completely randomly, some youngin' - I would estimate about 15 years of age, entered the car, in the backseat. My Urdu was a little off, I couldn't make out exactly what had happened, I assumed the guy was my cousin's friend.
No, it turns out he was just doing a chore for a few pennies.
It's the strangest fucking thing, dealing with these people. They're always there, just one command away. Being in America, I say my thank yous to cashiers or anyone of lesser means, exchange pleasantries, I never see them as lesser humans than me. But in that part of the world, if you look a certain way and dress a certain way, these folks will come to you for chores for a few pennies -- and they will almost present themselves as if they are lesser persons than you. And I would be speechless in those situations, I wouldn't know what to do or say. That properly fucked me in the head for a good while.
e.g. My family and I were driving in a Maruthi 800 car and we stopped at the light. A little boy of 8 years came upto another car in front with a bunch of roses. He gave on rose to the person in the car but by then the light turned green and everybody started driving. The boy ran after this car with all his might he could gather from every single fiber in his body so he could collect the pennies. I remember my parents and I looking at this scene with sadness.
When I used to travel by the suburban trains, I used to see little babies begging. I later learnt that the beggars were part of a much larger and powerful begging network. The adults would lay their (supposed) child with a big ulcer popping out the child's stomach so the passers-by would have pity and drop some change. I remember wanting to commit suicide after seeing such scenes. I used to look away just so I did not have to face the obvious questions that arise. It's a cruel world without money and no wonder we are all grabbing at whatever we can grab at driven by fear that one day we could end up in penury. It is the same in the USA sadly. A family is just one major sickness away from bankruptcy. The financially weak and people without power suffer everywhere.
At least one small thing is better there: I visited my cousin at work and there was a man in the lift who pushed the buttons for us. My cousin explained that he had been the lift operator before the automatic lift was installed and rather than have him lose his job they continued employing him. I’m not sure that would happen in modern America any more...or Australia for that matter.
So I'm not saying that you do obviously, but when I visited America I found it really jarring how all hospitality people were behaving almost like....servants. I saw what felt like a huge amount of fake smiles and pleasantries , just to make sure I feel happy as a customer, and presumably an attempt to get a larger tip. It felt like people were avoiding direct eye contact and their body language seemed as if they were naturally assuming a position of a "lesser" status just to keep you happy.
Again, that's just from a few visits over to America - maybe I was just very unlucky. But I had it every time in different cities.
As an American, I disagree with the "servant" class attitude that you found in America. It is completely opposite, in fact, in a bad way sometimes. Middleclass Americans feel entitled about being able to do certain things and if that privilege is taken away, they will create chaos. In general, Americans have enterprising values - work hard, be pragmatic, meritocracy, avoid formalities and generally have intense sense of optimism. Americans engage in risk taking, especially in the upper middle class.
10 core American values: https://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/USValues.html
It is not a perfect place, rather a mosiac of various cultures. I've visited India (spent 9 months) and the diversity in India is quite staggering - literally every state is like its own country. However, there is little race diversity and internationalisation. America is a land of immigrants, good tolerance to other cultures and the idea of individualism is deeply rooted in the soul of this nation. Korean person could be found eating at an Egyptian restaurant, both the person and the restaurant owners are Americans. In India, I found almost casual racism - literally everywhere from advertisements to how the North (light skinned) treats the South (dark skinned) Indians.
Of all nations I've had the chance to explore and understand - Japanese culture has the most "hierarchical" notion of society. I've worked with Japanese engineers who are afraid to speak up or mess up in order to avoid pissing off their superiors. The "servant" attitude you speak of - that is fully manifested in Japan - as a lifelong duty to serve others, excel in what you do and expect nothing in return (no tips in Japan). I admire certain aspects of it and it creates a peaceful harmony in the society. There are Japanese terms to explain it more clearly, I can't recall them.
That's not the service industry, that's just America in general compared to many other countries. Many cultures find it weird, but it's just how things are here.
>It felt like people were avoiding direct eye contact and their body language seemed as if they were naturally assuming a position of a "lesser" status just to keep you happy.
I've never noticed that despite working in a service industry for several years during college. I think this was just a cultural misunderstanding combined with confirmation bias.
My guess would be there was no superstition involved, they just thought you could afford it, and he was trying to help her out by getting a sale for her. Heck, maybe he even got a commission.
My wife and I were in the back row, when the driver suddenly stopped, and a guy got in the front seat... and then 2 more got in the back, one at either side of us (which yes, was extremely uncomfortable). Nobody said a word the whole time. The driver drove off, and dropped all of them off a short time later.
Very strange!
Since you dont look "Indian" the taxis know they can get more money out of you.
Next time before you enter the taxi try saying "Meter say chalo" which in Hindi means go by the meter.
If I even asked for the meter (in English, mind), rather than negotiated a price beforehand, we invariably got a rigged meter anyway! I'll try it in Hindi if I ever get back though!
Like, you could not understand why someone would act like that? You had difficulty reconciling your expectations of human society with your experience in Pakistan? What changed?
I recently read David Graeber's "Debt: The First 5,000 Years," and it helped explain why many find themselves (willingly?) shackled to menial labor.
Havin a hub-and-spoke model is the only way to make money if you are a logistics company. Grubhub wrote a good bit about this in their investor letter. [1]
[1] https://s2.q4cdn.com/772508021/files/doc_financials/2019/q3/...
> A dabbawalas’ commitment to the job is partly because it pays well – roughly 12,000 rupees (£140) a month, a good salary in India for what is essentially unskilled labour. The fame of the dabbawalas also gives the job a certain prestige. This can lead to perks like discounted mobile phone subscriptions and scholarships for a dabbawala’s children funded by organisations keen to be associated with the respected network.
> According to Sangle, the healthy-eating craze in India is good for dabbawalas as food companies are turning to them for delivery. Profits from these newer ventures are bumping the dabbawalas’ salaries up from 12,000 to 20,000 rupees a month, he says.
The labor is cheap but the work pays relatively well. As Hans Rosling says in his book _Factfulness_: things can be both bad and better.