#Delete<insert_company>
Today’s form of economic protest is complex and multifaceted. Social media has given rise to the “instant boycott” based on the ability for news to travel worldwide in a matter of seconds to billions of people. Yes, economic protest can be powerful when directed appropriately.
The sole purpose of a business is to make profits for its shareholders and investors. Period. When a business can do well by the customers it serves, socially, environmentally, and otherwise, then it’s a win-win. Many companies (even entire industries) struggle in this area.
I’m no historian, but let’s look at the bus boycott during the civil rights movement. During this era, there were no black drivers or owners, so the boycott was directed at a distinct and specific source of frustration and oppression. The difficulty of today’s economic protest is that we are all weaved into the economic fabric of our capitalist society as customers, proprietors, and beneficiaries. Who exactly are we impacting with any boycott?
The most recent example called for us to #DeleteUber, arguably for the CEO’s perceived support of 45 by serving on a business advisory council that also has 18 other CEOs. It has been suggested that they were being opportunistic at JFK by not striking with cabs. There may be several reasons to dislike uber, but those issues have been in place for a while now. The build up of frustration with uber, the current political thunderstorm, and a single tweet by a disgruntled user, led to this massive tsunami against uber. Let’s unpack some of this by looking at the five following points:
1) DRIVERS: There are many drivers using uber (and perhaps other ridesharing companies) to help supplement their wages. I believe uber is #1 today with 80% of the market, which would imply they have the most marketshare, most cities, most drivers, most revenue, and the most customers. I’m sure there are many people of color, low income individuals, immigrants, students, and others who would be negatively impacted by a full boycott of uber. Also, I have also not seen a widespread boycott by drivers.
2) TAXIS: I have zero love for the taxi industry. When I was in NY, they often would not pick me up as a black man, and when they did, they did not want to go to Harlem where I lived. It is an embarrassing and hurtful feeling to wave your hand to get a cab and to be passed over for the white woman across the street. Please do not bring the sympathy basket this way for the taxi industry. I have no donation to offer.
3) TRANSPORTATION DESERTS: There are literally parts of Chicago where people have no access to public transit. Transit is the life blood of a city. It allows people to move to and from, taking kids to school and people to work. Ridesharing has provided an option for people in these areas to more conveniently access the entire city.
4) OWNERS: I recommend everyone fully explore who truly owns these companies. Let’s pick on my old company P&G. They’re not connected to this #DeleteUber trend, but let’s say you wanted to boycott Tide and told everyone to use Gain instead. P&G owns both. Not saying Uber and Lyft have same owners, but if you go high enough up the food chain, I’m sure there is a lot of overlap. You might be surprised to learn how many of these companies eventually roll up to the same group of owners. Therefore, I might argue that your protest is merely shifting dollars from someone’s left pocket to their right pocket.
5) PENSIONS: Public employees, whose retirement is vested in the success of these companies, could be negatively impacted. Public pension funds invest in venture capital funds, who probably invested in Uber AND Lyft. So by #DeletingUber, you may be negatively impacting a worker who looks just like you and shares the same values you do.
Closing: While I have notably been on a #uberpool cheer campaign, I am indifferent to Uber and Lyft. I’m looking for a low cost option to conveniently get me from point A to point B. I know the fight for justice takes on many forms. This post is in no way meant to tell people to keep using uber. By all means delete them from your existence. The goal is to get us all thinking critically about the full impact of an economic boycott. If you ask me to step in the ring with you, I only ask that you give me a why that goes just a little deeper, so that we are on the same page as to what we’re trying to accomplish.
