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Airbnb Hosts More Likely To Reject Guests With Disabilities, Study Finds (theguardian.com)
A study by Rutgers University has found that travelers with disabilities using the travel hosting service Airbnb are more likely to be rejected and less likely to be pre-approved. From a report: A Rutgers University study of nearly 4,000 requests for lodging on the home-sharing platform found that guests with blindness, cerebral palsy, dwarfism and spinal cord injury were refused at rates higher than people without disabilities. In some instances, hosts who claimed that their homes were accessible were also more likely to approve guests without disabilities, according to the research published Friday. The report raises new questions about the ethics of Airbnb's business model, following the #AirbnbWhileBlack scandal that dogged the company last year, centered on revelations that African American guests were denied access at disproportionately high rates. While traditional hotels must abide by anti-discrimination laws, startups such as Airbnb have been able to skirt longstanding regulations by arguing that they are technology companies and platforms that aren't liable for the actions of their users.
Most homes aren't handicap accessible. So I imagine hosts with houses with lots of stairs, etc. would have no choice but to turn away some handicapped people. Also, many people might fear that their home might even be dangerous for someone who's blind, deaf, etc. I used to live in a house that had a balcony with a low railing, for example. I sure wouldn't have wanted a blind person out there without someone to warn them.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
How about a pharmacy that simply dispenses pills you need? How about the grocery store? What if all the water, electric, solar / gas / coal delivery etc, garbage collection, phone, or sewer companies are private?
Can they all just decide they don't like serving people "like you"? And you die for lack of meds, lack of food, lack of heat... whatever? Really? that's the society you want to be a part of?
"A surgeon that says "I'd rather let you die than treat you" obviously [...]"
shouldn't be licensed to practice medicine.
"I think I'm far better off taking my chances driving over to the next town than to have someone who wants me dead cut me open."
Whereas I think that its beyond unacceptable for the scenario to arise in the first place. The patients should not be shopping for a doctor that is willing to treat 'their kind' while literally bleeding out. I suppose they should comparison shop pricing too? Right? And read yelp reviews or something.
"In different words, your own example shows the utter folly of your political position."
I seem to recall an idiom like "Be aware of the log in your own eye before pointing at the splinter in someone else's." that applies nicely here.
"That's totally different from refusing service to black people, for example, where the only reason for rejection is racism."
Not quite, since a lot of costs are subjective. Let's try some out:
"I need extra contents insurance since I think you may rob me."
"I need extra life insurance because I think you may murder me."
"I need extra hardware at the property because I think you are sub-standard as a human and require extra assistance".
I've read through a few of the posts in this thread, and unfortunately, they're all terribly disappointing. I do appreciate that most are arguing from an extreme point of view, so as to make some kind of reductio ad absurdum style argument.
However, can we try to regain our humanity?
The reality is that living with a disability or chronic illness can really suck. Living in a society were others discriminate against you for any reason (some of the "legitimate" reasons claimed by the assholes positing in this thread, or otherwise) really sucks.
Philosophers have written that one of the remarkable traits that sets us aside from the rest of the animal kingdom, is the way we care for those in our society who are less able. We care for the weakest, we provide for the poorest, we nurture those that need assistance, and we show compassion to those who we may wish to destroy.
Well, I certainly don't see any of that around here, but perhaps I'm just in the wrong place?
Get back to me when 'all those businesses that never received taxpayer support' have built their own infrastructure (private roads, not on the power grid, no internet connectivity, self contained septic and water system, etc.). Also, make sure the owners or their university educated employees all went to private schools (i.e. nobody from a state university or college).
The hoops you libertarians will jump through to justify discrimination.
What is your point? All of those things are paid for in taxes, not some magic money tree.
And businesses pay far more in taxes than citizens, all of their rates are higher.
Nice try, though.