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diff --git a/vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/expected.html b/vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/expected.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4df6b42 --- /dev/null +++ b/vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/expected.html @@ -0,0 +1,206 @@ +<p>Horror stories about the increasingly unpopular taxi service Uber have + been commonplace in recent months, but there is still much to be learned + from its handling of the recent hostage drama in downtown Sydney, Australia. + We’re told that we reveal our true character in moments of crisis, and + apparently that’s as true for companies as it is for individuals.</p><p>A number of experts have challenged the idea that the horrific explosion + of violence in a Sydney café was “terrorism,” since the attacker was mentally + unbalanced and acted alone. But, terror or not, the ordeal was certainly + terrifying. Amid the chaos and uncertainty, the city believed itself to + be under a coordinated and deadly attack.</p><p>Uber had an interesting, if predictable, response to the panic and mayhem: + It raised prices. A lot.</p><p>In case you missed the story, the facts are these: Someone named Man Haron + Monis, who was considered mentally unstable and had been investigated for + murdering his ex-wife, seized hostages in a café that was located in Sydney’s + Central Business District or “CBD.” In the process he put up an Islamic + flag – “igniting,” as <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/12/15/us-australia-security-idUSKBN0JS0WX20141215">Reuters</a> reported, + “fears of a jihadist attack in the heart of the country’s biggest city.”</p><p>In the midst of the fear, Uber stepped in and tweeted this announcement: + <span>“We are all concerned with events in CBD. Fares have increased to encourage + more drivers to come online & pick up passengers in the area.”</span> + </p><p>As <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/12/14/uber-sydney-surge-pricing/">Mashable </a>reports, + the company announced that it would charge a minimum of $100 Australian + to take passengers from the area immediately surrounding the ongoing crisis, + and prices increased by as much as four times the standard amount. A firestorm + of criticism quickly erupted – “<a href="https://twitter.com/Uber_Sydney">@Uber_Sydney</a> stop + being assholes,” one Twitter response began – and Uber soon found itself + offering free rides out of the troubled area instead.</p><p>That opener suggests that Uber, as part of a community under siege, is + preparing to respond in a civic manner.<em></em> + </p><p><em>“… Fares have increased to encourage more drivers to come online & pick up passengers in the area.”</em> + </p><div data-toggle-group="story-13850779"> + <p>But, despite the expression of shared concern, there is no sense of <em>civitas</em> to + be found in the statement that follows. There is only a transaction, executed + at what the corporation believes to be market value. Lesson #1 about Uber + is, therefore, that in its view there is no heroism, only self-interest. + This is Ayn Rand’s brutal, irrational and primitive philosophy in its purest + form: altruism is evil, and self-interest is the only true heroism.<em></em> + </p> + <p>There was once a time when we might have read of “hero cabdrivers” or + “hero bus drivers” placing themselves in harm’s way to rescue their fellow + citizens. For its part, Uber might have suggested that it would use its + network of drivers and its scheduling software to recruit volunteer drivers + for a rescue mission.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Instead, we are told that Uber’s pricing surge <em>was</em> its expression + of concern. Uber’s way to address a human crisis is apparently by letting + the market govern human behavior, as if there were (in libertarian economist + Tyler Cowen’s phrase) “markets in everything” – including the lives of + a city’s beleaguered citizens (and its Uber drivers). <em></em> + </p> + <p>Where would this kind of market-driven practice leave poor or middle-income + citizens in a time of crisis? If they can’t afford the “surged” price, + apparently it would leave them squarely in the line of fire. And come to + think of it, why would Uber drivers value their lives so cheaply, unless + they’re underpaid? <em></em> + </p> + <p>One of the lessons of Sydney is this: Uber’s philosophy, whether consciously + expressed or not, is that life belongs to the highest bidder – and therefore, + by implication, the highest bidder’s life has the greatest value. Society, + on the other hand, may choose to believe that every life has equal value + – or that lifesaving services should be available at affordable prices. <em></em> + </p> + <p>If nothing else, the Sydney experience should prove once and for all that + there is no such thing as “the sharing economy.” Uber is a taxi company, + albeit an under-regulated one, and nothing more. It’s certainly not a “ride + sharing” service, where someone who happens to be going in the same direction + is willing to take along an extra passenger and split gas costs. A ride-sharing + service wouldn’t find itself “increasing fares to encourage more drivers” + to come into Sydney’s terrorized Central Business District. <em></em> + </p> + <p>A “sharing economy,” by definition, is lateral in structure. It is a peer-to-peer + economy. But Uber, as its name suggests, is hierarchical in structure. + It monitors and controls its drivers, demanding that they purchase services + from it while guiding their movements and determining their level of earnings. + And its pricing mechanisms impose unpredictable costs on its customers, + extracting greater amounts whenever the data suggests customers can be + compelled to pay them.<em></em> + </p> + <p>This is a top-down economy, not a “shared” one.<em></em> + </p> + <p>A number of Uber’s fans and supporters defended the company on the grounds + that its “surge prices,” including those seen during the Sydney crisis, + are determined by an algorithm. But an algorithm can be an ideological + statement, and is always a cultural artifact. As human creations, algorithms + reflect their creators. <em></em> + </p> + <p>Uber’s tweet during the Sydney crisis made it sound as if human intervention, + rather than algorithmic processes, caused prices to soar that day. But + it doesn’t really matter if that surge was manually or algorithmically + driven. Either way the prices were Uber’s doing – and its moral choice.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Uber has been strenuously defending its surge pricing in the wake of accusations + (apparently <a href="http://gothamist.com/2012/11/04/uber.php">justified</a>) + that the company enjoyed windfall profits during Hurricane Sandy. It has + now promised the state of New York that it will cap its surge prices (at + three times the highest rate on two non-emergency days). But if Uber has + its way, it will soon enjoy a monopolistic stranglehold on car service + rates in most major markets. And it has demonstrated its willingness to + ignore rules and regulations. That means<em> </em>predictable and affordable + taxi fares could become a thing of the past. <em></em> + </p> + <p>In practice, surge pricing could become a new, privatized form of taxation + on middle-class taxi customers.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Even without surge pricing, Uber and its supporters are hiding its full + costs. When middle-class workers are underpaid or deprived of benefits + and full working rights, as Uber’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-drivers-say-theyre-making-less-than-minimum-wage-2014-10">reportedly are</a>, + the entire middle-class economy suffers. Overall wages and benefits are + suppressed for the majority, while the wealthy few are made even richer. + The invisible costs of ventures like Uber are extracted over time, far + surpassing whatever short-term savings they may occasionally offer.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Like Walmart, Uber underpays its employees – many of its drivers <em>are</em> employees, + in everything but name – and then drains the social safety net to make + up the difference. While Uber preaches libertarianism, it practices a form + of corporate welfare. It’s reportedly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/11/17/why-uber-loves-obamacare/">celebrating Obamacare</a>, + for example, since the Affordable Care Act allows it to avoid providing + health insurance to its workforce. But the ACA’s subsidies, together with + Uber’s often woefully insufficient wages, mean that the rest of us are + paying its tab instead. And the lack of income security among Uber’s drivers + creates another social cost for Americans – in lost tax revenue, and possibly + in increased use of social services. <em></em> + </p> + <p>The company’s war on regulation will also carry a social price. Uber and + its supporters don’t seem to understand that<em> </em>regulations exist + for a reason. It’s true that nobody likes excessive bureaucracy, but not + all regulations are excessive or onerous. And when they are, it’s a flaw + in execution rather than principle. <em></em> + </p> + <p>Regulations were created because they serve a social purpose, ensuring + the free and fair exchange of services and resources among all segments + of society. Some services, such as transportation, are of such importance + that the public has a vested interest in ensuring they will be readily + available at reasonably affordable prices. That’s not unreasonable for + taxi services, especially given the fact that they profit from publicly + maintained roads and bridges.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Uber has presented itself as a modernized, efficient alternative to government + oversight. But it’s an evasion of regulation, not its replacement. As + <a href="http://fusion.net/story/33680/the-inside-story-of-how-the-uber-portland-negotiations-broke-down/">Alexis Madrigal</a>reports, Uber has deliberately ignored city regulators + and used customer demand to force its model of inadequate self-governance + (my conclusion, not his) onto one city after another.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Uber presented itself as a refreshing alternative to the over-bureaucratized + world of urban transportation. But that’s a false choice. We can streamline + sclerotic city regulators, upgrade taxi fleets and even provide users with + fancy apps that make it easier to call a cab. The company’s binary presentation + – us, or City Hall – frames the debate in artificial terms.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Uber claims that its driver rating system is a more efficient way to monitor + drivers, but that’s an entirely unproven assumption. While taxi drivers + have been known to misbehave, the worldwide litany of complaints against + Uber drivers – for everything from dirty cars and <a href="http://consumerist.com/2014/07/30/uber-passenger-complains-of-spider-bite-in-filthy-car/">spider bites</a> to + <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/09/30/uber-driver-hammer-attack-liability/">assault with a hammer</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/uber-nikki-williams-2014-12">fondling</a> and + <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/an-uber-driver-allegedly-raped-a-female-passenger-in-boston-2014-12">rape</a>– suggest that Uber’s system may not work as well as old-fashioned + regulation. It’s certainly not noticeably superior.<em></em> + </p> + <p>In fact, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/09/uber-california-lawsuit_n_6298206.html">prosecutors in San Francisco and Los Angeles</a> say + Uber has been lying to its customers about the level and quality of its + background checks. The company now promises it will do a better job at + screening drivers. But it <a href="http://consumerist.com/2014/12/18/uber-reportedly-revamping-security-wont-say-exactly-what-its-doing/">won’t tell us</a> what + measures its taking to improve its safety record, and it’s <a href="http://consumerist.com/2014/12/18/uber-reportedly-revamping-security-wont-say-exactly-what-its-doing/">fighting the kind of driver scrutiny</a> that + taxicab companies have been required to enforce for many decades. <em></em> + </p> + <p>Many reports suggest that beleaguered drivers don’t feel much better about + the company than victimized passengers do. They tell <a href="http://qz.com/299655/why-your-uber-driver-hates-uber/">horror stories</a> about + the company’s hiring and management practices. Uber <a href="http://www.salon.com/2014/09/03/uber_unrest_drivers_in_los_angeles_protest_the_slashing_of_rates/">unilaterally slashes drivers’ rates</a>, + while claiming they don’t need to unionize. (The <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3037371/the-teamsters-of-the-21st-century-how-uber-lyft-and-facebook-drivers-are-organizing">Teamsters</a> disagree.) <em></em> + </p> + <p>The company also pushes<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/11/06/3589715/uber-lending-investigation/"> sketchy, substandard loans</a> onto + its drivers – but hey, what could go wrong?<em></em> + </p> + <p>Uber has many libertarian defenders. And yet, it <a href="http://pando.com/2014/10/29/uber-prs-latest-trick-impersonating-its-drivers-and-trying-to-scam-journalists/">deceives the press</a> and + <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2014/11/17/uber_exec_suggests_using_personal_info_against_journalists.html">threatens to spy on journalists</a>, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/04/technology/uber-lyft/">lies to its own employees</a>, + keeps its practices a secret and routinely invades the privacy of civilians + – sometimes merely for entertainment. (It has a tool, with the Orwellian + name the “<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/10/03/god-view-uber-allegedly-stalked-users-for-party-goers-viewing-pleasure/">God View</a>,” + that it can use for monitoring customers’ personal movements.) <em></em> + </p> + <p>Aren’t those the kinds of things libertarians say they hate about <em>government</em>?<em></em> + </p> + <p>This isn’t a “gotcha” exercise. It matters. Uber is the poster child for + the pro-privatization, anti-regulatory ideology that ascribes magical powers + to technology and the private sector. It is deeply a political entity, + from its Nietzschean name to its recent hiring of White House veteran David + Plouffe. Uber is built around a relatively simple app (which relies on + government-created technology), but it’s not really a tech company. Above + all else Uber is an ideological campaign, a neoliberal project whose real + products are deregulation and the dismantling of the social contract.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Or maybe, as that tweeter in Sydney suggested, they’re just assholes.<em></em> + </p> + <p>Either way, it’s important that Uber’s worldview and business practices + not be allowed to “disrupt” our economy or our social fabric. People who + work hard deserve to make a decent living. Society at large deserves access + to safe and affordable transportation. And government, as the collective + expression of a democratic society, has a role to play in protecting its + citizens. <em></em> + </p> + <p>And then there’s the matter of our collective psyche. In her book “A Paradise + Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster,” Rebecca + Solnit wrote of the purpose, meaning and deep satisfaction people find + when they pull together to help one another in the face of adversity. + But in the world Uber seeks to create, those surges of the spirit would + be replaced by surge pricing.<em></em> + </p> + <p>You don’t need a “God view” to see what happens next. When heroism is + reduced to a transaction, the soul of a society is sold cheap. <em></em> + </p> + </div>
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