More from @bigblackjacobin

Edward Ongweso Jr

@bigblackjacobin

10 Feb

The international reporting on the gig economy is really just some of the best. Almost impossible for any trace of homegrown PR narratives to thrive for a second when confronted with the even greater exploitation that typifies how Uber (Grab, Didi, etc.) operate anywhere else.

In the past month, here is just a taste: we’ve got this pretty fascinating dive into China’s grocery delivery wars restofworld.org/2021/chinas-gr…

We’ve got this close up look at how workers on the ground would be affected by gig economy consolidation w some juxtaposition to how unconcerned and far removed from reality the investor capital is restofworld.org/2021/grab-goje…

Read 6 tweets

Edward Ongweso Jr

@bigblackjacobin

2 Feb

Jeff Bezos taught me it's okay to support ICE. He taught me it's okay to steal at least $67.1 million in tips from your drivers. Jeff Bezos taught me it's okay to spy on your workers with the Pinkertons. He taught me it's okay to create hellish working conditions & fight unions.

Jeff Bezos taught me it's okay to refuse to end oil and gas exploration contracts. He taught me it's okay to create surveillance technology and embed it in every part of your home. Jeff Bezos taught me it's okay to create racist facial recognition technology.

Jeff Bezos taught me that when you're being accused of hoarding wealth, poisoning humanity's ecological niche, stealing from competitors, breaking your workers' bodies, proliferating surveillance technology, and undermining democracy, the solution is to simply insist you aren't.

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Edward Ongweso Jr

@bigblackjacobin

31 Dec 20

This was my first full year reporting and I got to do a lot of stuff so here's a thread resharing some stuff I wrote that I liked the most or thought was important or enjoyed

I did a deep-dive into Uber & Lyft's quota system in NYC, which was a clever & immoral system to fire thousands of drivers in response to new wage laws increasing driver pay. Uber suspended the quota system hours after this was published.

vice.com/en/article/pke…

I was really happy with this explainer I did on defunding and abolishing the police that also incorporated criticisms of reformist initiatives like 8 Can't Wait. vice.com/en/article/ep4…

Read 16 tweets

Edward Ongweso Jr

@bigblackjacobin

30 Dec 20

OK this will be a long ass thread of academic & journalistic work done this year on the gig economy, its labor & antitrust dimensions, and its financial elements. This list is not exhaustive. I avoided paywalled stuff & focused on overlooked/interesting things to consider in 2021

@psskow

From @psskow and @piravilela a great story about the significance of a July 1 strike across Latin America, itself preceded by multiple strikes & years of deteriorating working conditions. We pay too little attention to the so-called gig economy overseas. vice.com/en/article/jgx…

@darakerr

Gig companies scrambled early in the pandemic to obscure the fact they were forcing workers to either risk starvation or infection. @darakerr spent months reporting on how sick paid leave policies were inadequate and often just bait-and-switch schemes cnet.com/features/gig-w…

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Edward Ongweso Jr

@bigblackjacobin

30 Dec 20

The Nashville terrorism debate is important but in all honesty I am more interested in figuring out when property damage is justified and to what extent (looting, sabotage, etc.) Don’t blow up a city block to hit a 5G database, ofc. But is it okay to steal/destroy Ring cameras?

If, for example, you want to unmake a city’s surveillance system there are legal & illegal ways to do so. You can regulate it but at what point is it justifiable for someone to just destroy cameras themselves? Or sabotage them somehow? And at what point should you?

Maybe I am missing it but I don’t see much talk of when it’s okay and in what ways is it okay for an individual or group to try & stop technological developments outside of legal forums. One consequence I think is that TO SOME the only option appears spectacular violence

Read 4 tweets