The great folk singer and champion of the people Pete Seeger, with a wee bit of sarcasm, used to tell union members not to waste their pity on the scab taking the side of the bosses during a strike. Have no fear, Seeger would say, the scab will bounce back and “make a good living on what he takes out of blind men’s cups.” Seeger knew how to humble his foes.
Similarly, one might at first worry whether Silicon Valley food apps like Uber Eats, DoorDash, and Seamless will survive the public outrage following a recent New York Times exposé of the hamster-wheel existence of the delivery people who use the apps to make a living. The article details how the business models of these bright new startups require that their employees—excuse me, “independent contractors”—carry food from restaurant to customer at a ferocious pace for pay that often amounts to less than the hourly minimum wage.