Say we ban these kinds of low quality jobs. Where will these new jobs come from? Let's say you have a medium to small sized town/city. Which do you think is more likely the trend:
1. New jobs will spring up in the place of Uber driving that will be better and the level of employment stays the same or increases.
2. New jobs will spring up, but there's fewer of them and the level of employment decreases.
I would have to go with #2. Urbanisation has been happening for a long time. People most often move to big cities because of work. I'm from a former Soviet country and most of our small towns and villages are dying because there are so few jobs. If those places set a really high bar for jobs then those areas would die even quicker. The same thing can happen in bigger and richer cities. Detroit is an example of that.
I will concede that some people do get stuck in jobs and could do better and some areas get stuck with jobs that can do better. However, this makes it a question of how far should we go rather than if done at all. Even very bad jobs for starving people are likely a net benefit, but few people in the US are actually starving.
People in the US often confuse being hungry with starving. Being hungry is a product of habitation. Someone who eats a lot will generally feel hungry on a diet that most people would be satisfied with. I'm one of those people. If you fed me a diet many people I know eat, I will feel hunger, but I certainly won't be starving. Over time, my body would acclimate and I wouldn't feel as much hunger.
Starvation and malnutrition are problems worth worrying about. Hunger in the absence of starvation or malnourishment is not.
1. New jobs will spring up in the place of Uber driving that will be better and the level of employment stays the same or increases.
2. New jobs will spring up, but there's fewer of them and the level of employment decreases.
I would have to go with #2. Urbanisation has been happening for a long time. People most often move to big cities because of work. I'm from a former Soviet country and most of our small towns and villages are dying because there are so few jobs. If those places set a really high bar for jobs then those areas would die even quicker. The same thing can happen in bigger and richer cities. Detroit is an example of that.
I will concede that some people do get stuck in jobs and could do better and some areas get stuck with jobs that can do better. However, this makes it a question of how far should we go rather than if done at all. Even very bad jobs for starving people are likely a net benefit, but few people in the US are actually starving.