I also do not have the ambition to let Uber care about my opinion … But it still does not change the facts based on which I came to my opinion.
I have been reading this forum and I just can’t help but think this is the exact same argument that horse drawn carriage makers had when the automobile came about. Honestly, how can you so vehemently defend a losing argument. Are you so anti innovation that you can’t imagine a world without hail-able cabs? Do you think cab drivers like what they do? They drive 12 hours a day and many for less than 6000 RMB a month. I was talking to my Uber black driver today. I took Uber black because I had a large delivery to a wedding today and I needed a large, clean car with A/C that would be okay with helping me with the delivery. Should I have ordered a van? Well that would have been illegal given the fact that they aren’t licensed transport vehicles either. My order wouldn’t fit in a cab so my hands were tied and instead of riding the 1 hour trip with my donuts melting in the back of a hot, dusty fruit wagon I rode in a Mercedes GLK SUV. He had his child seat strapped in because he has a full time job and just does this on his day off for a few extra bucks to meet people. However my driver has a friend who got 3 phones, signed up for 一号专车, 滴滴打车 and Uber from what my driver said he made over 60k last month driving the same 12 hours a day.
Do you want to talk about a moral opposition to doing illegal things? It is against the law in Chengdu to have a restaurant in a residential building. Ignorance of that law does not give you justification to break it. Are you now going to immediately stop going to your local noodle spot because you don’t want to be an accomplice or an accessory to their illegal business? I mean, it’s not your fault or anything but you don’t want to be there when every one gets shut down. Don’t go to the BBQ on the corner either, that is against the law too.
You know what I love the very most about China? They would rather have someone “illegally” selling fruit from a basket to feed their family than having the same person leaching from state welfare. They don’t actively try to stifle entrepreneurship because it is bad for the broader social good.
I sincerely doubt you could find a single city where ride sharing/hailing services have had a huge negative impact on the taxi business. You might want to pick up the yellow pages and find someone to get that information for you, or at least don’t use Google or Baidu to source it. They are both deeply invested in Uber and you wouldn’t want to support the enemy.
There will come a time when these types of things are part of our social DNA and the fight against it, just like the fight against automation, or scientific research, or AI is a complete waste of time. The fact is, one day you will be breathing with a lung grown from your own stem cells, while ordering McDonalds made by robots, delivered by a self driving car owned by Uber.
Here’s to the future.