Articulate the economic system that such laws depict.
Your first task is to articulate the economic system (or combination of characteristics of both socialism and capitalism) that such laws depict.
The UBER company has both Socialism and Capitalism working together within its walls. For example socialism has a part on where you are told what to do with your money and not really having any control over it, since it is all in money transfers onto your UBER phone app. You do not carry cash at any time during your tasks. Capitalism works in some ways as well, by giving the UBER drivers freedom on making their own hours, by working when they want to work to make any source of income.
Your second task is to examine the laws that either support or limit the operations by Uber.
Uber has become a prime example of the gig economy at work. Its workers are not guaranteed a minimum wage, they have to supply and maintain their own vehicles, and have few if any benefits. This here is a form of breaking laws when it comes to the minimum wage aspect of things and having few if any benefits, such as medical, retirement benefits, 401K plan and among other issues at hand. Also hiring them as an employee but not getting a steady paycheck with a certain minimum wage is an issue due to the way the economy is going as of 2020.
Your third task is to analyze how your findings from your first and second tasks affect Uber.
The first two tasks affect UBER tremendously. In task one, the way socialism and capitalism all play a role within this business, will hurt the business drastically. You either have to be a socialist or capitalist, you cannot do both because they will contradict themselves in the end.
And your fourth task is to present your moral position with regard to Uber.
The moral aspect about UBER is, that they need to have a minimum wage for all of their drivers and give them some sort of incentive check to help pay for their automobile expenses, give them a gas card for all of the miles they put on their vehicles and they should give them some type of benefits for medical, vision and so forth. Also taking away from the taxi services that have been in the transportation business for years is immorally wrong in all senses. Taking away jobs from hard working citizens and cutting into their pay that they receive is truly wrong.
For this latter task, you will need to identify one of the three ethical theories covered in Week 1 (utilitarianism, deontology, or virtue ethics) as support for the moral position that you are taking.
I think that out of the three ethical theories covered in week one, I think that virtue ethics has more to do with UBER than utilitarianism or deontology. I think that in a sense that UBER utilizes virtue ethics way more to avoid certain issues within the company in a whole. In 2017, Uber’s corporate culture was outed for being highly hostile, sexist, and offensive, resulting in a company-wide investigation. CEO Travis Kalanick was forced to resign, along with more than 20 employees. This is a form of socialism at its best.
Student Jennifer:
Socialism and Capitalism are terms that do not have official definitions on which everyone can agree. (Fieser, 2015) Socialism focuses on community interest where sources of the society’s economic production should be owned by the government. As the basis of Socialism is society based and government owned, government should have central economic planning authority.
Capitalism theory, on the other hand, focuses on privately owned businesses operating for self-interest. The sources of economic production for capitalism should be decentralized through market competition rather than thru the government. Capitalistic society operates with a goal of personal gain rather than society as a whole.
In capitalistic society, businesses compete for customers and strive to develop products/services and use technology that sets them apart from their competition. Supply and demand play a large part in capitalism and helps to create a competitive market. Product supply and prices are determined by the economy, unlike Socialism, where the aforementioned are determined by the government as are production and investments.
Uber as well as companies with similar business structures tend to market themselves as personal service/transportation services but are in fact technology companies. These companies use private contractors as drivers rather than employees. In doing this, the company is not required to adhere to most labor laws making them responsible for employee benefits, payroll taxes and are not responsible for insuring consistent employment.
The business structure for Uber allows the companies in a capitalistic society an advantage to achieving “The ultimate purpose of commercial enterprise” which is to earn a profit. (Fieser, 2015). Entrepreneurs may be attracted to this type of business structure as it allows for autonomy and flexible schedules. As the minimum requirements for being a driver are meeting the minimum driving age in your city, have at least one year of licensed driving experience, have a valid driver’s license in the state and be able to use an eligible 4-door vehicle. (Uber)
Utilitarianism is the ethical theory that most aptly applies to the Uber business structure. “Utilitarianism is an ethical theory that asserts that right and wrong are best determined by focusing on outcomes of actions and choices.” (Ethics Unwrapped, 2023). Morality becomes important in Utilitarianism as if consequences of the action are favorable to everyone. In the case of the Uber business structure, the actions could be seen as favorable to everyone involved. The users have the ability to use technology to request a ride. The drivers have the ability to determine when and where they want to work to earn money and Uber is able to profit. If the structure were different, all of those involved may not benefit from the service that Uber provides.
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