The New Economy

Which way do you want it? To be able to get an Uber at midnight or pay a cheaper price for a regulated cab in the morning?

I feel like I'm living in "Groundhog Day." To get up and repeat a process is so weird. No one is prepared for it, especially the cab company, which canceled my reservation, it had to be a mistake, after all I went to the airport YESTERDAY!

And when the car didn't show up, I checked Uber.

The prices were STRATOSPHERIC!

UberX was nearly double the price of a cab and UberXL, which I needed, because of my skis, was about the same price as hiring a black car in advance.

How did this happen?

I'm confused. They say regulation is bad for business, but what about us common folks?

Now I know why the white working man feels so detached. Maybe we all feel detached, that the world is spinning out of control, that no one is looking after our rights, that it's every man and woman for themselves.

Maybe it's always been this way, they just told us otherwise.

But one thing I do know is when they deregulate, we're the ones who usually suffer.

Now I know I'm at the airport and prices came down when the airlines were deregulated but have you noticed they've now gone back up and they're scamming you to boot, with no-frills fares, with no carry-on baggage, never mind luggage under the plane? So you're being nickeled and dimed all day long, it's like being pecked to death by ducks, and it's making us a coarser society. Ever checked into a hotel recently? The stated price is nowhere near the final price.

And I'm not an economist and everybody's got their own opinion and their own news sources and I'm not sure whether to engage or retreat.

The clerk didn't believe I was entitled to free baggage. He had to ask around and call to confirm what I already knew, that AA elite status transferred to Alaska. But then he wanted to charge me $75 for a barely overweight bag, as if the cash were going to go directly to him. I shifted some contents and avoided the expense but he was eager to take my money.

And I know, I know, the internet disrupted the music business, sucking a ton of cash out of recorded music and minting new billionaires and not everybody can play live, but in a digitized society we're all looking for experiences and when we all give up our possessions, and I'm ready to now, everything's on demand, where does all the money go?

Soon the cab companies will be bankrupt. It will only be Uber. Drivers working for a pittance as Travis Kalanick continues to employ subterfuge that our underfunded government cannot detect.

Meanwhile, there are those who want to thrown the government overboard, believing it's bloated and inefficient.

I just have one question...

Who's gonna look out for me?


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