Thread by @DanFinn95

This is a very good and depressing piece, and really drives home the point that Uber isn't so much a company as a latter-day version of the Pinkertons, lavishly subsidized by venture capital through its multi-billion losses to smash up workers' rights.

bloomberg.com/news/features/…

With opponents like these, who needs friends?

"Despite signing the bill [to regulate Uber], Newsom was still trying to negotiate an agreement that would ultimately shield them from it."

Another would-be foe: “The goal of the matter is for everyone to walk away equally unhappy”—the centrist credo really, how inspiring! Can't imagine how Uber has been able to roll over the opposition to its schemes like a tank.

The author makes the point here that the Democrats *could* do all kinds of things to rein Uber in, if they had the will.

And he goes on to say that they may very well not have the will to do a damn thing, with Uber cronies already installed in positions of influence.

Uber has only become a "cherished convenience", as he says, because it's been running for years at a massive loss, with gigantic corporate handouts that enable it to run a $200 million campaign against workers' rights in California.

If you follow the stories about Uber in the business press, the point at which it's going to become profitable is always just over the horizon.

cnbc.com/2019/04/27/ube…

One more push!

Ooops! But never mind, there's always next year.

This isn't so much playing capitalism on easy mode as being given the trophy while you're still comatose. But if the real goal is to turn the American workforce into subcontracted helots, who cares about a few billion dollars?

theverge.com/2021/2/11/2227…