Freedom to Choose or Controled by Situation ?
A company that does not seem like a cyberpunk example would be Uber. The premise of it is allowing people to have freedom to work when and wherever they want and also be their own boss. A lot of drivers use Uber as their main source of income, but they do not keep standard protection nor benefits. Different articles show that Uber has built in loopholes so they do not have to pay their drivers fairly and even lock them out of the app. This directly affects their income and them being able to support themselves.This also creates a situation where workers feel stuck, because leaving the platform could mean losing their main source of income without having another option ready. Because of this, Uber looks like more of a system that controls its workers because they depend on it.
## Flexibility Without Protection
This is sort of like Sleep Dealer where the job is an opportunity, instead it kind of traps its workers. Memo chooses to work with the nodes, in the same way Uber drivers chose, but this is based on their situation. Memo needs this job to survive and to send money to his family. In the same way Uber drivers depend on the app for money, but the algorithm controls everything. This type of work does not have stability, protection, or benefits which leaves workers in vulnerable and tough situations (Apouey, et al., 2023). There are also reports that show Uber has loopholes used so they do not have to pay their drivers and workers fairly. These loopholes even go to extremes of locking people off of the app which affects their ability to make and earn money (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2024). In Memo’s situation and the Uber drivers, they are both in a situation where they have limited choices so that “choice” is not really a choice.
## Dependency on Work
This brings up the question of whether or not we are moving toward the kind of corporate power seen in cyberpunk. In some ways, yes, especially with companies like Uber. Uber has a large number of workers who depend on the platform for income, which gives the company a significant amount of control over them. Technology makes it easier for corporations to manage workers in ways that are not always obvious, which can feel almost like manipulation. However, this is not exactly the same as a full cyberpunk world. There are still laws and regulations in place that are meant to protect workers and limit corporate power. At the same time, these laws are not always strong enough or consistently enforced, which allows companies to continue certain practices. Additionally, workers do not always have the power or resources to fight for themselves against these big companies. This raises concerns about how effective these protections really are in the long term. It also shows that cyberpunk is not a perfect prediction of the future, but it is not completely exaggerated either. Instead, it highlights real problems that already exist and pushes them further to show what could happen if these issues continue without stronger regulation or accountability.
References
Costa, T. G., et al. (2023). The burden of prolonged sedentary behavior imposed on mobility application drivers. Journal of Exercise Science & Fitness. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10323908/
Business & Human Rights Resource Centre. (n.d.). USA: Uber & Lyft allegedly exploit loopholes to deny drivers fair wages, impacting mental health. https://www.business-humanrights.org/en/latest-news/usa-uber-lyft-allegedly-exploit-loopholes-to-deny-drivers-fair-wages-impacting-mental-health/
AI Attestation AI was used to simplify the prompt and help come up with headings and titles. I also used AI to help me with citing my sources and coming up with my references. https://chatgpt.com/share/69c88804-175c-8327-ada4-24f4450e5970