I'll agree you absolutely have to watch what you're doing and count miles and whatnot, but having the option is a powerful thing (even when you're making negative money) and I wonder if regulating it too aggressively might take that away.
Imagine all the alternative ways this valuable human time could be used. Do you really think the majority of people feel empowered and freely do this, or is it rather that they are stuck in a negative loop and can't get out.
Also to highlight that currently the government is subsidising these companies by paying food stamps and Medicaid (in the case of the US), and the workers are subsidising them by taking any and all economic and personal risk (injury, accident, car breakdown, long term health issues, etc.)
"Empowered" is a spectrum. Do I think the majority of gig economy drivers find their job empowering in some cosmic sense - no, probably not. But I'd certainly be much happier as a driver for Doordash than a sales clerk at Walmart, and the reasons are empowering things like "I don't have to spend 100% of my time around annoying customers" and "there's no manager who will come yell at me if I play around with my phone for a few minutes".
I agree human time is undervalued in the modern economy and it’s often waisted, but I think door dash because of its flexibility might actually be part of a change that results in it being more valued rather than less.
