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Comment by imgabe

6 years ago

Unfortunately in the US you get people screaming that those drivers are criminally underpaid and are being exploited by heartless capitalists. Because of course random Internet commenters are better able to judge the drivers' priorities and desires than the drivers themselves.

12 comments

imgabe

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ViViDboarder  6 years ago

Are you seriously arguing that the drivers would rather be underpaid than get paid a fair wage?

The argument is not that these people shouldn’t be able to find work, but that they should get paid fairly for the work they do.

  • imgabe  6 years ago

    I am arguing that they would rather be paid some wage rather than have no job available.

    A backpacker who just wants to make enough money to get to their next destination probably doesn't want to deal with the overhead of taking on a full-time job and is happy to have the flexibility in exchange for less money.

    Fair is determined by the two people who are party to the transaction. If they both agree to it, then they consider it to be fair. If it is unfair, they are free to decline. The opinions of unrelated third-parties about whether a transaction is "fair" are irrelevant.

    • akiselev  6 years ago

      How many transient backpackers actually work for these companies to fund their immediate journeys and what do they have to do with a debate on localized externalities that they never experience?

      8 replies →