KEVIN WILLIAMSON: Jobs, And “Jobs.”

It’s a safe assumption that Uber’s PR weasels are the same species of mustelid as every other PR weasel, and I have no love for them. But setting aside the question of whether press releases ought to be obliged to follow the terminological practices of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the implicit Reich-Griswold view is an interesting illustration of the mindset of managerial progressivism, which holds that the normative state of affairs for the vast majority of people in the modern world is to be dependency, either as public wards or as employees. The assumption is that most people cannot be expected to take responsibility for their income, for their health care, for making arrangements for child care and retirement, etc., and so somebody—employers or government—must be deputized to do this for them. (Note Professor Reich’s formulation: We’re responsible/not responsible.) This is the classic progressive view of human beings as liabilities rather than assets, liabilities that are dealt with by the issuance of fortnightly checks and the maintenance of certain benefits packages. Independent contractor? Quelle horreur! . . .

The Left’s moral crusade against Uber is partly about protecting ancient Democrat-supporting fiefdoms—the local taxi cartels—but it is also an expression of the deeply ingrained belief that most people cannot handle independence and responsibility, that most people are best suited to punching clocks and saying “Thank you, sir, may I have another?” every two weeks. I very much doubt that that will be the normal situation 20 or 30 years hence, which is why I think of Professor Reich et al. as more reactionary than progressive.

And rightly so.