At What Cost?

This week we talk about blackballing, #DeleteUber, and the spirit of the law.

We also touch on taxes, Freemasons, and ride-share unions.

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Show Notes

• Intro
• Blackballing
• Photos of old Freemason’s ballot box
• Also: Freemasonry & Masonic conspiracy theories
• Blacklisting
• The Unnatural Combat

• Unspooling
• Uber has a secret program to foil law enforcement via Vox
• Or, as Gizmodo would tell you, Uber’s Secret App for Tracking Cops Sounds Creepy as Hell
• A viral blog post is forcing Uber to address its sexism problem
• Also: Uber has a sexism problem, and so does Silicon Valley
• Google is suing Uber for allegedly stealing a key self-driving car technology
• Talked about Otto in this podcast episode, by the way: Obsolete
• Uber’s CEO lectures a driver about “responsibility” in an argument about fare cuts
• Uber is forcing drivers in Seattle to listen to anti-union propaganda
• Uber’s Anti-Union Scare Campaign May Be Working
• The response to a ruling in London that said Uber drivers are employees, not contractors
• How Uber and Lyft responded to a taxi strike at JFK airport
• Uber C.E.O. to Leave Trump Advisory Council After Criticism via The New York Times
• Uber triggers protest for collecting fares during taxi strike against refugee ban
• The numbers are in, and #DeleteUber worked — in Lyft’s favor
• Uber executive casually threatens journalist with smear campaign
• An overview of the impacts of ride sharing companies like Uber in Australia (PDF)
• In case you were wondering: Ride-sharing’s impact on car sales has been dramatically overstated (at least for now)
• Ride sharing implications for urban planning (also)
• Donald Trump proclaimed during the first presidential debate that not paying federal taxes made him “smart,” then denied having said it via Snopes
• On the other hand, there’s Bourdain’s perspective: “A friend said, “You live outside the country more than half of the year. Create a bogus residence in the Caymans and pay no U.S. taxes.” I’d feel like a shit doing that. I’m an American. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to have those kinds of conversations. I’m putting myself to sleep just thinking about it. I’d rather make a lot less money. It’s honest dollars. Everybody gets theirs: my partners make money, I make money, the government gets theirs. If they call me in for a full audit, great, here I am.”
• The Uber Conflation
• Moral absolutism
• The tax discussion is a big one, because a lot of these ‘loopholes’ are related to investment income, which is overwhelming earned by wealthy people, but not specifically benefitting wealthy people as written. Here’s a good look at real numbers from Pew Research, but there’s a lot to consider in any fully fleshed-out conversation about this topic
• Uber and Lyft’s excuse for avoiding regulation
• Letter and spirit of the law
• Opportunity cost

• Outro
• Sponsor: Hostgator (who I use for my hosting needs — great if you’re starting a blog, website, or other project). Use this link to get a massive discount on whatever you might want from their service list, which in turn also benefits the show
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• Recommended book: Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds (remember that you can get this free if you sign up for the free month of Audible using the link above)(you can also buy it via this Amazon link, which will give me a referrer fee at no additional cost to you — and that applies to anything you might buy through the link)
• Some books of mine, also available on Audible: Come Back Frayed, Some Thoughts About Relationships, and Considerations
• LKT on iTunes (consider leaving a review if you’re enjoying the show & have a spare second)
• More about your host, a list of books I’ve written, and my contribution page
• My blog: Exile Lifestyle
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• My social media links