Sorry, but it won't. They'll just fudge the numbers. The trouble your having here is your blind faith in the free market taking care of you. The solution is 20% more pay, it's protectionism. You can't possibly compete with foreign labor. Weight of numbers alone gives them an advantage. Some people don't need sleep. Some people can push themselves harder than others. There's 3 billion of them. The odds are in their favor. On top of that their economy means they can be trained for a fraction of the cost of you, and you can treat them as completely disposable. This isn't a fight you're going to win. It's like that old quote from Wargames (you old enough to remember that?): "The only way to win is not to play"...

You're right about our 2 party system. But it was designed for that. Our entire constitution was written to protect wealthy landowners from the working class. That's why we have a senate, it prevents populist movements from taking off :(. About the only times we've ever seen any reason progress have been when one of the 1% broke ranks (FDR) and after WWII when too many workers had died off and when we were the only country left with working infrastructure...

but what are we going to do about it? We're too diverse and too different. Nothing in the pot actually melts. There are also way too many single issue voters. The Gun Lobby, Gay Rights, Abortion, Cuba (it screws with our presidential election). These things bring folks to the polls to vote and they don't care about economic issues economic issues (which at it's heart this MPAA flap really is).

The reason Germany & the Icelandic countries are doing so well is they're united. Their working class has solidarity. Things are looking up a little. Gay Rights is more or less done. The Left is dropping gun control and Obama opened up Cuba. But looking at crap like this shows me they're just as good at dividing and manipulating us as every...

doesn't work if you've got a teenage daughter. There are a tonne of shows not on netflix/amazon. I suppose I could tell her no, but TV for teens is a social thing. Kinda like how us nerds used to gather round and trade strategies on beating Zelda/Mario. Since most of the shows are on at 8pm (just after most teens finish their Homework but just before bed) it's not practical for her to just go over to her friends house. It's part of a finely honed machine designed to entrap parents...

to enforce the existing laws for _everyone_? Instead of just saying "Well, the plat owners are violating the law so it's OK if Uber does it too"?

Oh, and while I'm on the subject, Uber's choice of prey is slightly different. Uber requires a pretty nice car. The sort that you're run of the mill cabbie doesn't have. That's why cabbies get stuck renting their cars. Uber drivers are mostly desperate folks who just lost their job with a decent car from when they had one. The cab companies prey on recent immigrants. Uber preys on the recently unemployed.

Both practices are abhorrent. Let's shut 'em both down.

Que Grumpy Cat Meme. Uber is a major part of the global race to the bottom all us wage slaves are caught up in. In every way possible their "drivers" are employees. They can't work for competitors, they have to carry the Uber phone and if they turn down too many rides they get fired (what the hell else would you call it?). The only little difference is they don't pay benefits, reimburse expenses, pay unemployment insurance or any of the other things regular employers do. In a society where your entire quality of life depends on your job it's kinda important to clearly define what a "job" is.

And for all you young comp-sci majors out there who want to chime in with how great your 1099 gig is; Uber is NOT THE SAME THING...

I use power point. Does that count?

at least not in their banking laws. The way the laws are written is if you violate the spirit of the law but not the letter you're still in trouble. Of course, Rich people lose money when banking laws are violated. You know, we could learn something from those people. Violating the spirit of the law should carry the same weight. Screw this noise where corps just maneuver around laws. Put a little more power in our Judicial system to interpret intent, and maybe a few odds/end checks and balances to prevent abuses and problem solved. I know I'm over simplifying it, but it's better than throwing our hands up and saying we're all done for...

Um... the reduction in McDonald's is nationwide, while the study makes the point that there are more hospital visits near fracking, which is a localized thing. You're point isn't relevant.

there was a time after WWII that we didn't tolerate it. It's also coincidentally the best time in US History economically.

One thing I know for sure, the "State" is really our only hope. I can't think of anything that can stand up to the might of a Mega-Corp. Maybe the won't; maybe they'll always just be in cahoots. But I'm watching local gov'ts get picked apart one by one. They just don't have the power. If you want to get something done in America you use the federal gov't. That's how we got rid of Apartheid (we called it "Separate but Equal") and that's how we got Gay Marriage. I've never once seen a bunch of small disconnected states do anything about real oppression. It always took a bigger, better organized power stepping in.

The Republican party intentionally underfunded them to prevent enforcement. They also gave them a directive to audit a certain percentage of low income tax earners as part of the "compromise" that came with the earned income tax credit from the 90s. Both of these are verifiable facts. We've got a substantial part of the political power base that wants to lower wages. Discuss amongst yourselves if that's a good thing or not.

now what happens when you're 50 an you actually need medical care? You've been in and out of contract gigs your whole life and you're past your "sell-by" date now. Good luck getting one of those cushy jobs with benefits after your relentless pursuit of a quick dollar causes them all to go away.

You're also skirting unemployment insurance. Remember, unemployment is _not_ for you to take. It's there so you don't end up competing in a race to the bottom with desperate wage slaves when the economy takes a minor dip. That way when you're contract comes up for renewal they don't say "that's great cayenne8, but we've got 80 folks with your same skill set offering to do the job for 1/3 the pay. Will you take 1/6?".

where the hell have you been? Plus you're not paying into unemployment. It's not there for when _you're_ laid off, it's there to keep you from competing with desperate people when _they_ get laid off.

What are my options to stop it? That's all he's asking. It's especially scary because the same govt that should be looking out for these abuses is actively participating in them. This is what happens when workers lose solidarity. They'll come for you and your wages next.

look at the jobs that are being created. They're low paying service sector jobs that are impossible to Unionize. I know, the anti-Union hate on /. is pretty strong, but there really isn't any other way to raise wages for the general populace (excluding geniuses and a few lucky /.ers who didn't see their jobs outsourced).

Basically the Manufacturing jobs from the 70s were replaced by McJobs in the 90s. You traded $70k/yr + benefits for $20k/yr without (unless you're lucky enough to live in a state with socialized medicine for the poor).