The Uber boycott

[madmonk28]

@Procrustus

Does Lyft have options for Town Cars and SUVs? I have used Lyft yet, but thought it was just regular people in their personal cars.

That, I don’t know. I’m overseas right now and won’t use it until I’m back.

[AK84]

You are in Ramallah right? Wonder if there will be any “extra vetting” of you when you get back.

[madmonk28]

I’m white and traveling on a new passport. I’ll get “welcome home sir.”

[DrCube]

@Martini_Enfield

Pretty sure companies in most Western countries are required to act in the best interests of their shareholders - which, for a company as large as Uber, I would suggest doesn’t include voluntarily going out of business because some of their customers don’t like the president.

No company is required to act any particular way, they’re only required to follow the law when they do. And if the shareholders are okay with supporting evil, they’re evil too. Why should I do business with an evil company? Nobody should, that way, evil companies will go out of business, and future companies won’t be tempted to be evil.

[Dr_Paprika]

I usually take a cab. But when I’ve taken Uber I have received faster and better service. I get why people like it. I understand the urge for people to vote with their wallets on social issues. In college, a friend of mine wouldn’t drink Pepsi because of some issue in Burma. I know a few folks who won’t eat Domino’s or Papa John. For me, the offence would have to be more egregious. I understand people feeling frustrated and wanting to do something, but I don’t think this will change much.

[Boyo_Jim]

Man o man, this could really kill Uber business in Madison, which is about as liberal and anti-Trump a city as you will ever see.

[mazinger_z]

This boycott is ridiculous and I’m for one who advocates voting for their wallet all the time. Trump is a buffoon, no doubt, but Uber is a great service. They actually charge less than they should be (well according to them) and are indispensable when stuck at the airport.

Does sending more cars (they don’t actually send cars, drivers see fares/opportunity) undermine the protest? Sure, but the taxi industry is a shit industry so fuck’em. I support the protest, but I don’t see how me leaving the airport undermines my support for them.

[bobot]

I don’t know much about these Aps and Rideshares and Whatnots that these kids are talking about today, but this story says that Lyft is now in the top 10 on the Apple store thingamaboobob.

Lyft surges to the top 10 on Apple's App Store following the #DeleteUber...

[DrDeth]

@Kyomara

Everyone I know Ian proudly announcing the deletion of their Uber accounts. I’ve heard the charges agains Uber, but I’m not sure I totally get it.

First I have heard of it. No one I know has announced they are deleting their Uber acct.

[Shalmanese]

This is a big deal for Uber since the primary reason most people choose Uber over Lyft is because most other people are using Uber so there’s less wait time. If enough people start switching over to Lyft, it becomes a self-reinforcing trend that Uber becomes powerless to stop.

[Lemur866]

This is why I can’t see any such ride hailing service being that profitable in the long term. It’s more like Craigslist. If Craigslist was super profitable there would be 300 competitors undercutting it. The reason that can’t be done is that Craigslist is about as lean and operation as it is possible to be.

Nobody gives a shit about the name of the app they use to hail a ride, as long as they get a ride. Piss off customers and if they have any alternative they will switch in literally minutes. Welcome to the gig economy, Uber.

[Okrahoma]

@Shalmanese

This is a big deal for Uber since the primary reason most people choose Uber over Lyft is because most other people are using Uber so there’s less wait time. If enough people start switching over to Lyft, it becomes a self-reinforcing trend that Uber becomes powerless to stop.

LOL Two big investors in (and directors of) Lyft are Carl Icahn and Peter Thiel - both big Trump supporters/boosters. (In fact I think Icahn is an advisor in Trump administration).

[RitterSport]

Rumor is that the Uber CEO is quitting the Trump advisory committee, for what it’s worth.

[Martini_Enfield]

@RitterSport

Rumor is that the Uber CEO is quitting the Trump advisory committee, for what it’s worth.

Not a rumour, according to the BBC

[up_the_junction]

That’s okay then. We an forget about the worker exploitation issues now.

[PastTense]

And now the Uber CEO is quitting (resigned under pressure) from Uber.

Travis Kalanick stepped down Tuesday as chief executive of Uber, the ride-hailing service that he helped found in 2009 and that he built into a transportation colossus, after a shareholder revolt made it untenable for him to stay on at the company…

Earlier on Tuesday, five of Uber’s major investors demanded that the chief executive resign immediately. The investors included one of Uber’s biggest shareholders, the venture capital firm Benchmark, which has one of its partners, Bill Gurley, on Uber’s board. The investors made their demand for Mr. Kalanick to resign in a letter delivered to the chief executive while he was in Chicago, said the people with knowledge of the situation.

In the letter, titled “Moving Uber Forward” and obtained by The New York Times, the investors wrote to Mr. Kalanick that he must immediately leave and that the company needed a change in leadership. Mr. Kalanick, 40, consulted with at least one Uber board member and after hours of discussions with some of the investors, he agreed to step down. He will remain on Uber’s board of directors.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/21/technology/uber-ceo-travis-kalanick.html?referer=&_r=0

This surprises me.

[lisiate]

Did you miss the string of scandals and high-profile resignations that preceded this?

I suspect that the new bosses will have a difficult job trying to stem the massive losses and turn Uber around.

[constanze]

@Martini_Enfield

Pretty sure companies in most Western countries are required to act in the best interests of their shareholders - which, for a company as large as Uber, I would suggest doesn’t include voluntarily going out of business because some of their customers don’t like the president.

1. Just because it’s a law in the US doesn’t mean it’s a law in the most western countries.

2. “The best interests of their shareholders” does not automatically translate to “We will only look at the bottom line and nothing else”. It can also mean “we have a certain Segment of customers with certain attitudes, and we will lose These customers if we don’t do things a certain way”
   Or “we have decided to give ourselves a Charta of ethics and sustainability, because it will work out better for us and our employees and our customers and the rest of the world in the Long run to pollute less, to pay People more, to use less energy and raw resources”
   or: “our customers have signed a Petition to adopt this code of ethics from the ILO regarding Treatment of our employees and subcontractors, therefore, we will follow what the customers want as not to lose them”

3. Long-term thinking is just as much or more in the interest of the shareholders than the quarter-Profit plan thinking. Otherwise, no Company would ever pay Money for R&D, or update their Technology, or Switch to new forms of sales, or similar. All that costs Money, but a Company that doesn’t update, doesn’t move with the times, doesn’t invent, is one that quickly does badly compared to competitors.

4. Several large companies have already decided to take controversial political stands - Ben & Jerrys decision to Support Gay Marriage in Australia; Bernoullis gay ad; Hobby Lobby’s public case against full health insurance for ist employees…

All those have caused reactions amongst their customers, some calling for a boycott, some deciding to shop there in Support. I don’t remember any shareholder taking them to court for that decision, though.

[constanze]

@Dr.Strangelove

The boycott seems dumb to me. Trump should be fought on the streets and in the courts, of course. But he remains the president, and avoiding some of the worst excesses requires talking to him. I’m glad that a number of execs are on his advisory boards. You think that letting Bannon and his ilk being Trump’s only source of information would be an improvement?

Trump doesn’t Need Information, he is smart, didn’t you hear?

If there was a realistic Chance that a rational president would listen, then yes, diverse opinions would be important.

But we’re talking about Trump. There are certain lines, once they are crossed, you stand by your principles or your principle is “loyalty trumps everything, Content doesn’t matter”.

This isn’t normalization, or at least not past the point of factual reality–that Trump does indeed have the power to screw up national policy in numerous ways. And nothing will cause the Trump presidency to become some kind of roaring success. But being an adviser might take the edge off some of the worst aspects.

Remember why during Apartheid South Africa was boycotted? Remember how the Opposition to the Apartheid, including athletes Standing to loose their only Chance at winning important competitions, confirmed that they wanted the boycott to go on?

Remember why People accused Pope Pius for the worst encyclica of all times - the unwritten one, for never condemning the Holocaust/ Shoah with full force? His excuse, that he didn’t want to make things difficult for Catholics living under the rule of Nazi Germany, is flimsy considering that the official stance of the RCC was always about “it’s not about doing what’s easy, but doing what’s right, if the law persecutes you, you will become a martyr”. And given that during the Cold War, the Pope(s) had no Trouble finding clear words in encyclicas to condemn the communist countries.

That’s why People shouldn’t work with Trump. He’s crossed too many lines; Signals Need to be sent; and also, it doesn’t work in reality anyway, since he doesn’t listen.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@constanze

1. Just because it’s a law in the US doesn’t mean it’s a law in the most western countries.

Directors’ fiduciary responsibilities are virtually identical the world over.

“The best interests of their shareholders” does not automatically translate to “We will only look at the bottom line and nothing else”. It can also mean “we have a certain Segment of customers with certain attitudes, and we will lose These customers if we don’t do things a certain way”

The options presented were “do business with Trump” or “go out of business.” Doing business in a socially responsible way wasn’t one of the options offered.