From 0226e0ca0dc70f9a0310b3eef045ee1c1e0ca3ac Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Andrew Dolgov Date: Tue, 13 Dec 2022 20:00:46 +0300 Subject: split into a separate repo --- .../test/test-pages/salon-1/source.html | 2513 ++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 2513 insertions(+) create mode 100644 vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/source.html (limited to 'vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/source.html') diff --git a/vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/source.html b/vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/source.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3bfa3fe --- /dev/null +++ b/vendor/fivefilters/readability.php/test/test-pages/salon-1/source.html @@ -0,0 +1,2513 @@ + + + + + The sharing economy is a lie: Uber, Ayn Rand and the truth about tech + and libertarians - Salon.com + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+

+ + Salon + +

+ +
    + + +
+
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
+
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Sunday, Feb 1, 2015 11:57 AM UTC +

+ The sharing economy is a lie: Uber, Ayn Rand and the truth about tech and libertarians

+ +

+ Disruptive companies talk a good game about sharing. Uber's really just an under-regulated company making riches

+ + +
+ +
+

Topics: uber, + libertarians, Sydney, + Editor's Picks, sharing economy, + +

+
The sharing economy is a lie: Uber, Ayn Rand and the truth about tech and libertarians + Ayn Rand, Rand Paul (Credit: AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta/Photo montage by Salon) +
+
+

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.

+
+
+

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.

+

Uber had an interesting, if predictable, response to the panic and mayhem: + It raised prices. A lot.

+

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 Reuters reported, + “fears of a jihadist attack in the heart of the country’s biggest city.”

+

In the midst of the fear, Uber stepped in and tweeted this announcement:  + “We are all concerned with events in CBD. Fares have increased to encourage + more drivers to come online & pick up passengers in the area.” +

+

As Mashable 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 – “@Uber_Sydney stop + being assholes,” one Twitter response began – and Uber soon found itself + offering free rides out of the troubled area instead.

+

What can we learn from this incident? Let’s start by parsing that tweet:

+

“We are all concerned with events in CBD …” +

+

That opener suggests that Uber, as part of a community under siege, is + preparing to respond in a civic manner. +

+

“… Fares have increased to encourage more drivers to come online & pick up passengers in the area.” +

+
+
+
+
+
+

But, despite the expression of shared concern, there is no sense of civitas 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. +

+

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. +

+

Instead, we are told that Uber’s pricing surge was 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). +

+

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? +

+

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. +

+

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. +

+

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. +

+

This is a top-down economy, not a “shared” one. +

+

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. +

+

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. +

+

Uber has been strenuously defending its surge pricing in the wake of accusations + (apparently justified) + 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 predictable and affordable + taxi fares could become a thing of the past. +

+

In practice, surge pricing could become a new, privatized form of taxation + on middle-class taxi customers. +

+

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 reportedly are, + 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. +

+

Like Walmart, Uber underpays its employees – many of its drivers are 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 celebrating Obamacare, + 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. +

+

The company’s war on regulation will also carry a social price. Uber and + its supporters don’t seem to understand that 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. +

+

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. +

+

Uber has presented itself as a modernized, efficient alternative to government + oversight. But it’s an evasion of regulation, not its replacement. As + Alexis Madrigalreports, 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. +

+

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. +

+

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 spider bites to + assault with a hammer, fondling and + rape– suggest that Uber’s system may not work as well as old-fashioned + regulation. It’s certainly not noticeably superior. +

+

In fact, prosecutors in San Francisco and Los Angeles 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 won’t tell us what + measures its taking to improve its safety record, and it’s fighting the kind of driver scrutiny that + taxicab companies have been required to enforce for many decades. +

+

Many reports suggest that beleaguered drivers don’t feel much better about + the company than victimized passengers do. They tell horror stories about + the company’s hiring and management practices. Uber unilaterally slashes drivers’ rates, + while claiming they don’t need to unionize. (The Teamsters disagree.) +

+

The company also pushes sketchy, substandard loans onto + its drivers – but hey, what could go wrong? +

+

Uber has many libertarian defenders. And yet, it deceives the press and + threatens to spy on journalists, lies to its own employees, + 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 “God View,” + that it can use for monitoring customers’ personal movements.) +

+

Aren’t those the kinds of things libertarians say they hate about government? +

+

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. +

+

Or maybe, as that tweeter in Sydney suggested, they’re just assholes. +

+

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. +

+

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. +

+

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. +

+
+ + +
+
+

+ + More Richard (R.J.) Eskow. + + +

+
+
+
+ +
+ +
+

You Might Also Like

+ +
+
+
+
+

More Related Stories

+ +
+
+ + + +
+
+
+

Featured Slide Shows

+ +
+
+
    +
  • Share on Twitter
    • +
  • Share on Facebook
    • +
  • 1 +of 5 + +
    • +
  • Close
    • +
  • Fullscreen
    • +
  • Thumbnails
    • +
+
    +
  • + +
    + +
      + + +
    +
      + + +
    +
    +
    +

    “One girl can be silenced, but a nation of girls telling their stories becomes free” slideshow

    + +

    A photo contest winner

    +
    +
    • +
  • + +
    + +
      + + +
    +
      + + +
    +
    +
    +

    “One girl can be silenced, but a nation of girls telling their stories becomes free” slideshow

    + +

    A photo contest winner

    +
    +
    • +
  • + +
    + +
      + + +
    +
      + + +
    +
    +
    +

    “One girl can be silenced, but a nation of girls telling their stories becomes free” slideshow

    + +

    Superhero Project

    +

    “In life many people have two faces. You think you know someone, but they + are not always what they seem. You can’t always trust people. My hero would + be someone who is trustworthy, honest and always has their heart in the + right place.” Ateya Grade 9 @ Mirman Hayati School (Herat, Afghanistan)

    +
    +
    • +
  • + +
    + +
      + + +
    +
      + + +
    +
    +
    +

    “One girl can be silenced, but a nation of girls telling their stories becomes free” slideshow

    + +

    Superhero Project

    +

    “I pray every night before I go to bed for a hero or an angel capable + of helping defenseless children and bringing them happiness. I reach up + into the sky hoping to touch a spirit who can make my wish come true.” + Fatimah Grade 9 @ Majoba Hervey (Herat, Afghanistan)

    +
    +
    • +
  • +

    Recent Slide Shows

    + + +
    • +
+
+
+
+
    +
  • + +
    • +
  • + +
    • +
  • + +
    • +
  • + +
    • +
+
+
+
+ + + +
+
+
+

Related Videos

+ +
+
+
+

Comments

+
+ +

Loading Comments...

+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

follow salon

+ + +
+
+ + + +
+
+
+
+
brought to you by
+
+
+
+
+

Most Read

+ + +
+
+

From Around the Web

+ +
+
Presented by Zergnet
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
+ +
+ + + + + + + +
+
+ +
+ + + + + -- cgit v1.2.3