Libertarian Party of the Florida Keys Calls For Repeal of Uber Ban
Dear Editor,
The ride sharing app Uber is a service that has received widely held praise by consumers and Uber employee’s alike. As with many innovative new technologies, Uber has been caught in the crossfire between the costumers that enjoy the service, and the industry that it poses the greatest threat. The city of Key West’s decision to outlaw the use of Uber reveals the relationship between the city and the monopolistic and dying dinosaur taxi industry which feels endangered by it. If one hundred years ago the horse and buggy industry was being threatened by the far superior automobile industry that would eventually lay waste to them, they would only have to bargain with the city of Key West and the KYPD would begin arresting anyone with a combustion engine.
In Mexico, Uber drivers have been routinely targeted by taxi drivers, having rocks thrown at their vehicles and windows smashed, threatening Uber customers with violence and even sending drivers to the hospital in the wake of the barbarous mob.
In the United States, many cities have banned Uber under the influence of these zealous taxi drivers, the only difference between the two scenarios is the amount of bloodshed; it is considered civilized only to arrest our enemies using the force of government, something we would never do ourselves. This outsourcing of violence on the behalf of the taxi business only shows their own lack of ability or unwillingness to compete with Uber by providing cheaper fares, cleaner cars, and superior customer service, so they lobby the government to keep out the competition. It is the inability to adapt and the governments readiness to stifle innovation that leads to the greatest damage, the societal toll on progress.
The city of Key West’s criminalization of the Uber service directly effects the consumer, the entrepreneur and the spirit of the free market. The Libertarian Party of the Florida Keys vehemently opposes the cities nearsighted decision to ban Uber as well as any encroachments on voluntary consumer services or trade. We encourage concerned citizens to contact their city officials and demand a repeal of the Uber ban.
Steven Nekhaila
http://www.forbes.com/sites/frederickallen/2012/07/23/super-rich-hide-21-trillion-offshore-study-says/
According to an early report on the study in The Guardian, Henry’s research
shows that at least £13tn [$21 trillion] – perhaps up to £20tn [$31 trillion] – has leaked out of scores of countries into secretive jurisdictions such as Switzerland and the Cayman Islands with the help of private banks, which vie to attract the assets of so-called high net-worth individuals. Their wealth is, as Henry puts it, “protected by a highly paid, industrious bevy of professional enablers in the private banking, legal, accounting and investment industries taking advantage of the increasingly borderless, frictionless global economy“. According to Henry’s research, the top 10 private banks, which include UBS and Credit Suisse in Switzerland, as well as the US investment bank Goldman Sachs, managed more than £4tn [$6.2 trillion] in 2010, a sharp rise from £1.5tn five years earlier.
Uber is part of this, your libertarian utopia.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/uber
This link gives you all the Uber investors…A delightful bunch of corporate parasites. They’re all “libertarians”, as well.
Not trying to start an argument, just thought you should know who you are backing.
I can’t blame the super wealthy for trying to preserve their wealth, in many cases I believe it is well deserved. Speaking with the very wealthy myself, I understand that they wouldn’t work if half the year all of their income goes to the government. Regardless of how the owners of Uber control their savings, I believe we should think of Uber as more than just serving the owners but the employee’s and customers, instead of a faceless business. I have ridden Uber several times, one of the drivers just recently got laid off of a job and was working with Uber full time, the other was a young man who was supporting a new family. So when you support a Wal-Mart or a McDonalds you are not just supporting those at the top but the families of those who make up the hiearchy as well. I would know as my family is involved in the franchise industry.
P.S. Libetarian’s don’t believe in utopia’s, even an ideal “libertarian society” is not a utopia. We don’t believe in such fairy tales, we just believe in improvements over the old. As a matter of fact, the original term for libertarian was liberal.
The difference between a horse and an invention like a car is an idiotic analogy (but then again, what can be expected from a libertarian?). What Uber is offering is almost nothing different from what licensed taxi companies offer, it is only a way for the work force to be given less while the element of the global economy Mr. Symington talks about gets more and more. As for taxing the rich, there has never been any kind of mixed economy, that is, a combination of public and private enterprises, as well as regulated parts of the private economy, that has taxed the rich into not investing … never! As for Walmart and such, Rapture completely misses the point. Sure, Walmart sells cheaper, but the kind of capitalism it has championed has given those who buy things there less purchasing power than before them … even at the prices they now have. Boy, have I ever heard this drivel before from libertarians and the like.
“What Uber is offering is almost nothing different from what licensed taxi companies offer, it is only a way for the work force to be given less while the element of the global economy Mr. Symington talks about gets more and more.”
The work force is given less? What evidence do you have that supports this claim? And even if they were paid less is that not of their own volition? Who are you nor I to deny Mr. Symington, or any other businessman for that matter what is rightfully his?
“As for taxing the rich, there has never been any kind of mixed economy, that is, a combination of public and private enterprises, as well as regulated parts of the private economy, that has taxed the rich into not investing … never!”
That is because the rich simply do not pay these taxes. Sure, they will never admit to it publicly, they hide their wealth behind corporations, hedge funds and other accounting tricks. If I was in there position I would do the same. Less money is still less money, if I were taxed 50% of what I make that would certainly be less capital to invest. That is a very sweeping statement to make, unless you were in the shoes of every entrepreneur and businessman in America I don’t believe you have the right to make such a statement.
“As for Walmart and such, Rapture completely misses the point. Sure, Walmart sells cheaper, but the kind of capitalism it has championed has given those who buy things there less purchasing power than before them … even at the prices they now have. Boy, have I ever heard this drivel before from libertarians and the like.”
Ignoring the fact that Wal-Mart wants to lobby the government to raise taxes, a very unlibertarian thing to do, in order to climb the proverbial ladder and kick it off! Amazon wants the same thing, why do these business want the government to raise taxes? To keep out competition of course. Sounds like Wal-Mart and Amazon don’t want entrepreneurs to have capital to invest via taking it away through taxation… Hmmmm odd. As far as purchasing power, I have not a clue way you mean. If I can buy a hammer at Wal-Mart for $2.50 and the same one for $3.99 at Ace Hardware, isn’t Wal-Mart increasing my purchasing power?
Perhaps someone with such a snide temperament such as yourself should consider what he is saying before accusing others of spewing drivel.
Rapture, Once again, you don’t seem to get it. Yes, Walmart selling cheaper increases your purchasing power, but the world created by the rise of Walmart has decreased a working man’s purchasing power even more. You can look it up. Now, maybe it has not decreased a rich man’s wealth, but it has done so for the vast majority of mankind. Now, you might laugh at these “losers” in life, but they are totally necessary for the wealth making process, and totally necessary for the life style of the rich man and they are being cut in on the booty less and less with your kind of capitalism. As for the work force being given less, evidence! You want evidence? Wages for working people have been stagnant or worse for more than a generation now. Uber flooding the streets with part timers or whatever, would do just that in the taxi industry too. It is a form of “scab” worker. One more thing about Walmart and such: they could give a crap about taxes, their success is based upon a third world work force that works basically for free by our standards. It is precisely the form of globalism they championed that has been their “success”, everything else is fluff. I’ll finish with this: people like you either refuse to see the facts and numbers, or simply feel as if those at the lower ends of our work force don’t deserve better. I hope it is the former, for your sake as a human being. Best wishes, Jerome
“Rapture, Once again, you don’t seem to get it. Yes, Walmart selling cheaper increases your purchasing power, but the world created by the rise of Walmart has decreased a working man’s purchasing power even more. You can look it up.”
The only way I can see this being true is if somehow Wal-Mart is effecting the purchasing power of the dollar. I don’t see how Wal-Mart of businesses like Wal-Mart are effecting the ‘working man’s purchasing power’. If you want to know why our purchasing power has gone down, you can thank the banks for that. Money is created out of thin air and loaned out at interest.
“Now, maybe it has not decreased a rich man’s wealth, but it has done so for the vast majority of mankind. Now, you might laugh at these “losers” in life, but they are totally necessary for the wealth making process, and totally necessary for the life style of the rich man and they are being cut in on the booty less and less with your kind of capitalism.”
Capitalism has brought more wealth to the common man then any other system, since the industrial revolution the average persons quality of life is equivalent to the richest elites from hundreds of years ago, and we have better technology than they did. True Capitalism is divorced from what we have today, what we have today (and have had at least in some degree for several hundred years) is a corporatism system, i.e. phony capitalism, government backed corporations.
“As for the work force being given less, evidence! You want evidence? Wages for working people have been stagnant or worse for more than a generation now. Uber flooding the streets with part timers or whatever, would do just that in the taxi industry too. It is a form of “scab” worker.”
Just the other day I was talking to a friend who usually takes an Uber but had to take a cab in Broward County, he ended up paying $120 for the cab fare to the hotel from the airport, usually he pays just around $25 for the same distance with an Uber. I say to hell with the taxi industry, I have no sympathy for them, they can go the way of floppy discs and 80’s bell bottoms for all I care. As far as wages, are you referring to minimum wage? Minimum wage is minimum for a reason, you are only going to be paid for the value of your labor. In Europeans countries with higher minimum wages, they also have a proportionately higher unemployment, why is that? Because the wrings are being taken out of the ladder, low skilled workers can’t find jobs. If you wan’t to see the effects of minimum wage, just look at what Seattle’s $15/hr minimum wage did to the restaurant industry.
“One more thing about Walmart and such: they could give a crap about taxes, their success is based upon a third world work force that works basically for free by our standards. It is precisely the form of globalism they championed that has been their “success”, everything else is fluff. I’ll finish with this: people like you either refuse to see the facts and numbers, or simply feel as if those at the lower ends of our work force don’t deserve better. I hope it is the former, for your sake as a human being. Best wishes, Jerome”
The reason why big businesses move their labor to third world countries is because 1.) The minimum wage is too high and the kind of manufacturing jobs do not generate enough revenue to justify paying someone minimum wage, this is why America is losing manufacturing jobs.
2.) Third world countries like China, while they have a high GDP, their per-capita GDP is very low (around $3,000). Large companies actually attract a lot of workers from the farm lands who can make much more money working for them instead of working in the country. These companies actually result in an increased quality of life for those that work there, they are not being forced to, they are there by their own volition. We had our own industrial revolution 100 years ago, China is having their’s.
I wish the best for everyone, and I believe true capitalism divorced of cronyism has and will continue to bring economic prosperity. A corporation can’t force you to buy a product, keep you from competing against them or be subsidized with your tax dollars, a government can. Sincerely, Steven.
Ah yes, Jerome, the taxi cartel homer is back defending the embarrassing, deplorable KW taxi cab service. How’s that TaxiASAP app doing? I see you’re STILL at 100 downloads on the Google app store.
I admire your fight. Sooner than later, the corrupt city commissioners will be voted out and replaced with Uber supporters.
Give it up. Uber and other ride-sharing, modern, WIDELY ADMIRED services will prevail.