Thread by @imrankhan

I tend to be cynical about the idea of Late Capitalism, but an Uber driver last night told me a story which made my jaw hit the floor.

He picked me up, and apologised for the congestion.

"You see all these cars, though? They're owned by the same person". (1/9)

Me: "What do you mean? Aren't they all ubers and lyfts?"

Him: "Yeah, but the drivers lease the cars off the same guy. I met him." (2/9)

"He's from Virginia, and leases out thousands of cars to drivers who for financial or background reasons can't otherwise buy or rent a car that meets, say, Uber's rules."

Me: "Oh, ok. Well, that makes sense."

Him: "Yeah? Here's the thing, though." (3/9)

"The set-up means that when these drivers complete a ride, the payment goes direct to the guy who owns the car.

The driver sees precisely zero cents until they hit a monthly quota. The money's in the owner's account; he then transfers it once the quota's hit." (4/9)

"That's why you see these drivers speeding around, cutting corners. They need to rack up these trips or they're not even paying off their lease, let alone making money".

Me: "What?! But I thought the margins for uber drivers is low anyway. How is this worth it for them?" (5/9)

Him: "Oh. Well being an uber driver isn't their main job. They might work a 9-5, but not own a car that lets them get to that job.

By leasing this uber car, it gives them transportation, right?" (6/9)

"So they wake up, complete a few rides before work, a few after. More on the weekend, obviously. If they're quick, they can complete enough rides to make their quota for the month and make some money.

But they're on a real knife-edge..." (7/9)

"If they don't go quick and do enough rides, they fall behind on those lease payments and lose access to the car that gets them to their main job which actually pays their rent and food and essentials, right?" (8/9)

"But if they go too quick, and get a speeding ticket or their driving makes their Uber customer rating drop below 4.5, then they lose access to the car too. It's a real bind. You can see them everywhere, though. Look, there's another two." (9/9)

Me, still in the back:

There's been a few types of response to this

1) I'm making the whole thing up!
➡️ The whole convo was about 10 mins, so admittedly I was paraphrasing rather than verbatim, but I didn't introduce any elements, & don't think I missed anything crucial.

I'm also not that creative, and am currently at the National Academies of Science for an event discussing online misinformation, so take from that what you will.

2) the uber driver made it up
➡️ Possibly. But a number of people in the thread claim to have heard similar stories, in a variety of global cities, and some posted links to Uber schemes accomplishing the same goal.

3) Uber is evil, or the Virginia guy is evil
➡️ Think this is missing the point. Water flows downhill; people and companies respond to incentives.

4) What's the problem? It's a service, they're free to choose or do it themselves
➡️ We may have different definitions of freedom...

Capitalism should create freedom, but these drivers clearly aren't free.

& capital isn't as accessible or frictionless or socially mobile as you think, if you're arguing the drivers could just theoretically set up a leasing business so the outcome is therefore 'fair'

5) Where was this?
➡️ DC! I was getting a late-night cab from the airport to my hotel. I probably wouldn't have done that back home in London, so some commenters are right that better public transport is part of the answer, to reduce the incentives.

6) More info on how the 'fleet partner' leasing thing works, via @JMBooyah
buzzfeednews.com/article/johana…