Socialism and Capitalism response
Student Jerrid’s comment:
Hello Sonia,
I like how you mentioned Socialism and Capitalism sharing something in common. I had stated that they were polar opposites but seeing that they do share self-interests in common, makes sense. The profit motive is the ultimate purpose behind businesses (Fieser, 2015). Within socialism, one could say it is the same, but instead, it is for community profit or benefit, rather than personal self-interest as you’ve stated. I work for a company that has an ESOP or Employee Stock Ownership Plan that allows individuals within the company to gain stock or ownership of the company they work for, through the years they provide to the company. This makes the culture of the work environment great and makes everyone want to work harder to achieve the end goal of a great retirement and higher stock prices for them when they do retire. That is one way I can see socialism playing a part within businesses that is not only self-interest but also the interest of the community or business as a whole.
Laws within the business world seem to vary from Federal and State. Legal definitions of employees and independent contractors may vary from state to state, so in one state a person could be considered an employee while in another an independent contractor (Wells, 2022). Although these laws may vary, it is important to remember to treat workers fairly and within the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Fair Labor Standards Act pertains to minimum wage, overtime, misclassification, workers’ safety rights, benefits, and compensation, and more (USAGov, n.d.). The problem with adhering to this is that Uber does not classify its independent contractors as employees. What classifies an employee? There is something called the ABC test, which has actually been adopted by a few states as their official test for determining whether an employer is classifying their workers as independent contractors or employees (Wells, 2022). There are three elements from the ABC test that classify whether an individual is an employee or a freelancer. First, does the employer direct or control how the person does their job? Second, does the work that person performs, part of the employer’s usual business activities, or within their usual business location? Third, does the person normally work in their own business, professional practice, or trade (Wells, 2022)? When looking at these three categories, does it seem like Uber would be classified as an employer?
Although I’m not familiar with being a driver myself, I would be interested in hearing an actual Uber driver’s personal experience on the matter. Of course, the drivers would want more benefits, but I wouldn’t mind hearing from them what they think about the whole situation. I agree that Uber could be viewed as Utilitarianism because it provides happiness to not just the consumers needing rides, but also the drivers because of the flexible schedule’s they’re able to harbor. At the end of the day, I would argue that Uber could at least provide some additional benefits to freelancers but maybe the ones who are specifically utilizing Uber as their full-time job. Of course, the Department of Labor, and Department of Transportation would need to be involved if that were the case because hours of service cannot succeed a certain amount when driving a motorized vehicle on the road.
Thanks for taking the time to read my response.
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Answer preview to Socialism and Capitalism response
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