this post was submitted on 09 Nov 2025
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[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 13 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

For some reason I got my post removed last time I mentioned this, but what if Uber had a feature that let you select the race of your driver because "some riders don't feel comfortable with black drivers". That would clearly be wrong right?? It's the same thing but with gender I don't know how people were defending this originally.

[–] Gloomy@mander.xyz -4 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

Is there a race that is statistically more violent then the others? So no base for excluduing them. But males are significantly more violent than other genders.

So there is your difference.

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 8 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

In the United States, black people are statistically far more violent than for example white people, to use your terms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_crime_in_the_United_States

The per-capita [homicide] offending rate for African-Americans was roughly eight times higher than that of whites, and their victim rate was similar

Now, there are various socioeconomic factors at work here and most of them point back to historical and present mistreatment (mainly by white people), but setting all that aside- if you just want to get an uber and you are worried about being assaulted by driver, those underlying causes are irrelevant.

Again - I do not think Uber should let you filter by race - that's clearly wrong. But I think filtering by gender is just as invalid.

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 1 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

How much of that is due to conviction rates? As a middle-aged white guy I can get away with shitloads more than any black man.

[–] LaLuzDelSol@lemmy.world 1 points 19 minutes ago

Some of it, I'm sure, but the fact that black homicide victim rates are in line with black conviction rates does point to a higher underlying level of crime. The vast majority (80-90%) of homicides of white and black people are white-on-white and black-on-black.

[–] stickly@lemmy.world 7 points 7 hours ago

Is there a race that is statistically more violent then the others?

...

...

...White supremacists use this argument verbatim against certain ethnicities. It's literally the poster child for statistic-fluffed racism.

Do I have to link the meme or are going to figure this out on your own?...

[–] 18107@aussie.zone 10 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

I used to drive for Uber.

They have very predatory and anti human behaviors built in - like making sure drivers have no good way to communicate with other driver so they can't form a union.

Real contractors can negotiate their pay and working conditions, and real employees get training and usually know who their co-workers are.

Uber deliberately picks the worst of both categories when dealing with their drivers. Drivers are required to manage and pay for their own licence, vehicle, registration, maintenance, and fuel, while also having no training, no contact with other drivers, and no ability to negotiate pay or working conditions. Drivers can also be removed (fired) at any time without reason.

It took me over 6 months to break even on setup costs, not including the cost of the car I already had. No-one is using Uber as a way to get slightly more money when commuting with setup costs like that, and Uber knows it. "Uber" was always going to be a taxi service; just one that treats its drivers worse, pushes most costs onto the drivers, and funnels money to shareholders as fast as possibly while providing the minimum possible service.

Uber is a corporation with no empathy, and will happily crush all of its workers for slightly more profit. I will never again work for them or use any of their services.

[–] eah@programming.dev 3 points 3 hours ago

Cory Doctorow has had a lot to say about Uber on his blog.^[https://pluralistic.net/tag/uber/]

[–] whoisearth@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 hours ago

Race to the bottom

[–] paultimate14@lemmy.world 16 points 13 hours ago

It's segregation. Its pre-judging people based on their gender. And even if you can justify to yourself that it's okay to discriminate against men... What about trans people? Non-binary people? What happens when some straight woman complains that aesbian driver made them uncomfortable?

It was a great idea to protect women until anyone takes 5 seconds to think about it.

[–] pixeltree@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 11 hours ago

You know, I don't think I've ever had a woman uber driver

[–] entwine@programming.dev 98 points 1 day ago (1 children)

This is a complex situation, but I enjoy seeing Uber get sued regardless

[–] iloveDigit@piefed.social 20 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Same. Lyft stole my time and gas money refusing to pay me for a ride I gave someone when I was driving for them

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Heh. You think your time & money is your own. How's that working out, citizen?

[–] Alexstarfire@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 23 hours ago

Serfs had it better, NGL.

[–] Steve@communick.news 39 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Just add a men-only option. Problem solved.

[–] homura1650@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago (3 children)

That only solves the problem if there is an equal demand for both. Assuming there isn't, the male drivers still have a claim for lost income as a result of their gender.

[–] Steve@communick.news 6 points 21 hours ago

It solves Uber's problem, in that Uber set up a feature to favor one sex.
Men drivers can't blame the public if theirs isn't as much demand for their services.

[–] Mikina@programming.dev -3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 15 hours ago) (1 children)

That doesn't make any sense. Can male strippers sue that there's not as big demand for them as there is for female strippers? I don't think so. (This is just a metaphor, I have no idea how big the male stripper business is, but that's not the point, I'm sure you could come up with a similar example where gender is an advantage, becasue there's simply smaller demand for the other gender).

[–] Hacksaw@lemmy.ca 5 points 14 hours ago

Gender is a bone fide job requirement for strippers. That's not the case for taxi drivers.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com -4 points 21 hours ago

Nope, because it's the male drivers fault the demand is different.

[–] entwine@programming.dev 19 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Fuck it, just add a character creator to the Uber app, and it'll only match you with drivers that look like your custom character.

[–] Ofiuco@piefed.ca 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Me, a person of culture who loves to create beautiful and T H I C C women when a game allows to: I mean... Yes, but...

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 20 points 1 day ago

But that would make sense, and that is not what virtue signalling is about.

[–] morphballganon@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And who would use it?

Like 1/100th of the number who use the women-only option?

[–] Mikina@programming.dev 0 points 15 hours ago (1 children)

That's not the point, though.

I understand and support there being an option for woman-only drivers. It's unfortunte that it's required, but women has to deal with a lot of harrasment and I don't see a reason why not provide a safer option for them. (I'm not implying that creep women exist, or that men don't have to deal with similar problems, but it's simply way less common).

I don't agree with this lawsuit, but adding a men-only option would solve the issue from legal standpoint. You are not giving someone advantage over their gender, both have the same options, and it's up to the customer/market to decide which one they preffer. The people suing Lyft for providing an option that's unfortunately required because women have to deal with a lot of creeps can get fucked, and this is the best way how to do it.

[–] Hacksaw@lemmy.ca 6 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

If you replace sex with race you'll realise that you're completely wrong. There is no legal reason to choose your driver's gender, just like there is no reason to choose your driver's race. The fact that some drivers harass women is because Uber and Lyft don't screen drivers sufficiently to protect passengers.

[–] Mikina@programming.dev 8 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago)

Hmm, you are right, replacing gender with race does make a good point I didn't realize. "I want to be able to choose a white driver because I wouldn't feel safe with a driver of different race" is basically the same point as with gender, but sounds way more wrong and it shows pretty well why is the whole idea a bad one.

At least I'm struggling to find any arguments for the gender version (which is not a bad thing, mind you), if I take this race example into account. You are right that way more rigorous screening of drivers with 0-strike policy would be a lot better than this.

In general this might work for a lot of similar situations, treating gender as a race. I'll keep that in mind, because it makes sense and I never really though about it that way. Thanks!

[–] SpikesOtherDog@ani.social 46 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Heritage Foundation: We much create safe zones to protect women.

Also Heritage Foundation: Not like that!

[–] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago

It makes perfect sense if you replace "safe zones" with "cooking, cleaning, child rearing"...

[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 day ago

Wait, so like hijabs?

[–] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 1 points 20 hours ago* (last edited 18 hours ago) (1 children)

arnt some men peferentially choosing female passengers, because they are kinda pervy. it make sense woman wants to feel safe instead of having a potential creep of a male driver by choosing a female-only driver, given the chance a female passenger almost illicit some kind of wierd behaviour from male drivers. and then there stories of them getting assaulted because thier advance of being rebuffed.

[–] CallMeAnAI@lemmy.world 9 points 16 hours ago

No, you don't get that information beforehand. Just drive details.

[–] Alabaster_Mango@lemmy.ca 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Lol, this post was directly below on my feed.

[–] RickyRigatoni@retrolemmy.com 3 points 22 hours ago

I'd hire him.

[–] curiousaur@reddthat.com 1 points 19 hours ago

Zach Weiner is a GOAT. What a perfect comparison, almost the next theres always a relevant...