WHY YOU SHOULDN'T PROTEST UBER OKAY

Some thoughts on why this isn't the battle we should be fighting:

People are upset due to the fact Uber disregarded the Taxi Strike in response to Trump's Executive Order on immigration. Some points to keep in mind:

The Taxi Strike at JFK was scheduled for exactly one hour- no pickups between 6-7 from JFK.

It was initiated by the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, a non-profit union based in New York.

Apparently #DeleteUber originated after a tweet that was posted the day of the strike in which Uber stated they lifted surge pricing. This tweet was posted a half hour after the scheduled strike, but was still interpreted as Uber being opportunistic and unsympathetic.

The NYTWA has promoted the criticism of Uber and even has created a #NoBanNoWall Protest event... which is to take place at Uber's headquarter's in NYC. THIS can ALSO be construed as "opportunistic" in a business sense. Of course a taxi workers union would want consumers to utilize taxis instead of Uber services; the less people that use Uber results in an increased demand for taxis.

I recognize that there is a somewhat stronger argument for the interpreted opportunism of Uber, in this instance, due to a lack of moral foundation for Uber and that it's CEO is a "Trump Advisor" (I would like to point out that ELON MUSK OF TESLA SERVES ON THE SAME FORUM AS KALANICK OF UBER OK, it is the Strategic and Policy Forum). However, Uber HAS created a $3 million fund for workers who have been effected by the immigration ban. It also has donated time and service locally which I will expand on in a following paragraph.

First, however, I think it is also important to recognize those of us who deleted Uber and have NOT started to utilize taxis but instead are using Lyft. Lyft has been compared in a favorable light to Uber following #DeleteUber, especially after it donated 1 million dollars to the ACLU. BUT FUN FACT: CARL ICAHN OWNS A HUGE SHARE OF LYFT AND HAS INVESTED $100 MILLION IN LYFT. JOHN CHRISTODORO OF ICAHN CAPITAL SERVES ON LYFT'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS. ICAHN HAS BEEN A TRUMP SUPPORTER FROM THE BEGINNING AND TRUMP ORIGINALLY MENTIONED HIM AS THE POTENTIAL TREASURY SECRETARY. "I'd love to bring my friend Carl Icahn" he said. GUYS he said "my friend'.

Whew, okay, so now that's off my chest. But wait, so maybe possibly the NYTWA is also being opportunistic and yeah Lyft has ties to Trump too... but does that really affect the existing critique of Uber's lack of solidarity and sympathy? Maybe not. But I'd like to deliver this friendly reminder to all of the Pittsburgher's that might be skeptical of Uber's social responsibility:

Uber has donated $10,000 to the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh to cover free rides to the shelter for women.

During the water boiling advisory these past couple days, Uber offered free rides to water distribution centers for Pittsburgh residents.

Uber has created countless jobs in Pittsburgh and has given this city the opportunity to increase its standing as an area of innovation and impressive nascent technology.

It is right to be angry and it is right to voice your opinion and it is right to demand change. Sometimes there can be a "more right" way of doing so, maybe. Sometimes there is a better outlet, a better mode, a better way. It is my opinion that deleting Uber and protesting Uber services and taking time to go to its headquarters and protest is not the most right, the most effective, way of battling the immigration ban created by President Trump.

Pittsburgh has numerous organizations that are working towards the betterment of the lives of immigrants and refugees. Your congresspeople need to hear your voice, or see your signature on a letter. Pittsburgh's City Council has just passed new bills that seeks to create a more welcoming city for immigrants; research the proposals and make critiques in order for Pittsburgh to become the best city it can be.

Deleting Uber deletes jobs and income and stability for many members of Pittsburgh. Before protesting, I urge you to think of the reasons as to why you should protest, the main goals, and if there are better ways to achieve such goals. sources b/c I should: http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2017/02/01/City-Council-Dan-Gilman-Pittsburgh-immigration-laws-safeguard-refugees/stories/201702010105
https://twitter.com/cbspittsburgh/status/826869830196293632
http://money.cnn.com/2015/06/19/investing/donald-trump-carl-icahn-treasury-secretary/index.html
http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/01/29/24833147/uber-users-delete-app-in-wake-of-muslimban-protests-while-lyft-donates-1m-to-the-aclu
http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/12/14/ceos-tesla-uber-join-trumps-business-adviser-team/95416356/
http://www.theverge.com/2017/1/29/14431898/uber-kalanick-trump-immigration-ban-drivers-delete
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/31/business/delete-uber.html?_r=0
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/boycotting-uber-is-helping-trump-adviser-carl-icahn/ar-AAmqCrN
http://jalopnik.com/new-york-taxi-workers-alliance-halting-jfk-airport-pick-1791737697
http://labornotes.org/blogs/2017/01/new-york-taxi-workers-strike-back-against-muslim-ban
http://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2017/01/24/Uber-donates-free-rides-to-Women-s-Center-and-Shelter-of-Greater-Pittsburgh/stories/201701240166

8. Come up with a mathmematical formula to express something you know/believe. (example: Long Saturday run + Frapppuncino = Happiness)

There isn't much calculus saturating my brain anymore. After three years of various levels of coursework I can recall terms and half-definitions but am unable to write a valid equation. At least, not one would properly represent the education I have received. At some point I shed my abilities to interpret limits and derivatives and even the quadratic equation.

I do distinctly remember something from Calculus I, however.
Okay, I remember a couple things.

Most of these things are not going to assist me in solving an equation or word problem, but they do offer support in a less tangible but, perhaps, a more practical way. I don't remember much of class because I wasn't there very often. I wasn't in school very often. The material was difficult and I didn't really apply myself and lots of kids in that class cheated but I never did because if I wanted a good grade I should have been more proactive about it, right? I did want a good grade though. I really did. I always cared even if it didn't seem like it.

Our teacher always cared too. Students made fun of her and the structure of the class didn't always seem fair, but she did care. She retired the year that I graduated high school and before she left she told me to email her, that "she always enjoys hearing from students". Despite my absence and lackluster grades, she did not think any less of me.

She would often say, "an iiiiiinfinite number of possibilities". She would emphasize the beginning of the word infinite and end the phrase with a slight smile on her face and I'm smiling just hearing it in my head now.

I believe in an infinite number of possibilities.

I just finished reading the book, Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge. The author chose a random day, and on that day, ten random child deaths that resulted from guns, and he told the story of those children. Those ten lives, and even more that day, all reached similar conclusions. But that was not their end.

Each life, especially each child's life, has an infinite number of opportunities. The limit of a life approaches infinity, The line of a life can travel forever, throughout space and time and an incomprehensible amount of variables. From this, I know that potential exists.

In Younge's book, he cites statistics and studies that frame each event as a doomed occurrence. These lives were doomed, to end in heartache or poverty or prison. They were doomed by the economy, the government, and the history of oppression in America. They were doomed by legislation. They barely had a chance.

And I agree. I have seen how hard families in low income areas work and the little reward. I have observed how economic oppression has created a harrowing divide among populations America. But, I have also read with a child. I have heard the aspirations of classrooms. My heart has swelled at the generosity of a third grader.

I understand the way that outside events have a way of breaking the line and ushering a life in a certain direction, but I also believe in the potential that resides in all of us.

I'm going to study my calculus and make sure my notation is correct before officially posting an equation. Hopefully there's a math scholar hiding in me, somewhere. There's potential.