How Uber is Changing the Economy

I had an Uber driver tell me yesterday that the service has completely changed his life for the better. He drove a cab for 24 years and was afraid to ever give it up because of all the security that went with working for the company that held the medallion.

He’s been wiping vomit out of his backseat for decades and dealing with the worst humanity has to offer – drunks, violent people, pigs who leave trash in his car, ride thieves who jump out at red lights, etc. And working for other people, horrible people who would take advantage of him at any juncture – just because they knew he had no way to stop them.

Now he deals with customers who actually have a stake in being on their best behavior and he has never been happier. He gets to drive a clean vehicle and interact with conscientious passengers. Best of all, there’s no haggling and tips are included – automatically. The nasty friction of being a cabbie for hire is gone and in its place is a professional work situation.

In the quote above, Uber founder and CEO Travis Kalanick explains how Obamacare has helped make this all possible.

For all it’s flaws (and there are plenty), one thing that single-payer insurance does is it lets people cut the umbilical cord with bad work situations or become more entrepreneurial without the threat of having to drop out of society.