Hey, I’m all for upending the status quo. But that “thankless job” is one people rely on. My dad included. This isn’t some noble act by a company to end meaningless, menial work. It’s a ploy by a company to cut those pesky “workers” out of the money. There’s no backup plan for the people who rely on driving for money—more people than ever, by the way. This is literally a profit boosting “evolution” in the continued unlivability crisis. This isn’t Star Trek. It’s seasons 3-4 of Mr. Robot.
Comment on A crowd destroyed a driverless Waymo car in San Francisco
masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 months agoOh, well THANK GOD, no human driver has ever been known to block traffic or hold up emergency vehicles!
What saints you all are for protecting the right of people to work thankless taxi jobs, and have their number one cause of death be traffic fatalities. Nothing could be more noble than preserving the status quo!
TheFriar@lemm.ee 7 months ago
masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
This isn’t some noble act by a company to end meaningless, menial work. It’s a ploy by a company to cut those pesky “workers” out of the money.
I mean, yeah. That’s why basically any corporation does anything, it’s a core function of how capitalism is supposed to work and continue to enrich society. Should we have not invented computers because it shuttered 4/5 of the paper mills in my dad’s home town?
There’s no backup plan for the people who rely on driving for money—more people than ever, by the way.
Yeah, but that’s a problem with government safety nets and supports, not with a company engineering a new technology.
This is literally a profit boosting “evolution” in the continued unlivability crisis. This isn’t Star Trek. It’s seasons 3-4 of Mr. Robot.
I would argue that it’s almost exactly Star Trek.
TheFriar@lemm.ee 7 months ago
I’d argue the opposite. Capitalism doesn’t enrich society. It enriches capitalism. Any “benefit” to society is purely for selfish reasons. Its motives being corrupt, its actions are not noble.
[there being no safety nets] is a government problem, not a company’s
Capitalism ruined this too. Lobbyists, special interest “donations” (read: bribes), are all done by companies just like this one. They’ll lobby for harmful laws, under the guise of “but driverless cars are for the people’s safety!” All the while, evading taxes and lobbying against closing those tax loopholes or raising taxes to help the workers who now have no job.
These things don’t exist in a vacuum. Especially in today’s late stage capitalism, there is no moral behavior from these companies, because they are wading into a world where their very existence offers them and seemingly implores them to do harm for their bottom line. We can’t ignore what’s happened over and over and over and over again because this time the benefit will surely outweigh the harm done to achieve profitability!
masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
So you think that because the American government is corrupted by capital, destroying a Waymo car will lead to better regulation? Or an overthrow of capitalism to be replaced with which system of governance that isn’t also entangled with capital?
Taniwha420@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I want as few cars as possible, mixed zoning, and walkable cities.I don’t believe in a technocentris utopia. I want more quality relationships, and technology in our lives to be more restrained. I am in no way an advocate for the status quo (which by all accounts is AI and robot cars). Robot cars are a step in the wrong direction.
masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
I want as few cars as possible, mixed zoning, and walkable cities
agreed.
Robot cars are a step in the wrong direction.
You’ve made no argument as to why, or why the alternative of human drivers killing millions is better?
Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
One thing human taxi drivers have over robotic ones is accountability.
masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
Lol, no they don’t.
Do you know how many cab drivers execute illegal u-turns, park illegally, cut off cyclists, speed etc.? They literally never get caught or ticketed for anything unless they actually kill someone with their car.
Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
So, which waze executive is going to prison after their car dragged a pedestrian down the street?
masterspace@lemmy.ca 7 months ago
What percentage of drivers go to prison for getting in accidents?