Calling Uber part of the “sharing economy” puts a too happy face on the lack of good jobs in this country. That, and business’ willingness to take full advantage of people down on their luck in what remain tough times.

Sure, there are people who are part of the contractor economy — those who receive 1099’s instead of W2s — but my guess is they are few and far between. People who used to have real jobs with insurance and other benefits were cast aside during the great recession and, if not replaced by foreign workers, ended up with contractor jobs.

Is that really the America we want to have? And how well does this speak of “will-do-anything-for-a-buck” tech companies?

I was happy to hear yesterday that the State of California had decided Uber drivers should be classified as employees instead of as contractors. While contractor status might have passed muster some years ago, the idea of a $50 billion service company with essentially no employees seems more absurd than representing capitalism’s finest moment.

There are a number of lawsuits challenging Uber on this point, so there is the opportunity both for piling on and for conflicting rulings. Regardless, Uber will continue toward its stated goal of replacing all its drivers with self-driving cars. Like Amazon wants to replace postal and UPS workers with drones.

It is also noted that Uber has already won the contractors-not-employees battle in at least five states. The California ruling stands out because of how the employee argument was made, according to the New York Times.

On a slightly different topic, it used to be folklore that only widows rented out rooms to what were then called boarders. Now, AirBnB has made this a tactic for keeping a home you can no longer afford, perhaps because of your new contractor status.

Together, these companies and their ilk are turning us into a nation of freelance taxi drivers and one-room innkeepers. This seems like a downward spiral, just waiting on taxi companies and the hospitality industry to get on the contractors-not-employees bandwagon.

We need to find ways to provide more and better jobs so contracting becomes more the exception and less the norm. Companies should be incentivized for hiring workers, rather than bringing them on and casting them off whenever it suits them.

Tech companies, who for many years were seen as good guys offering great jobs, are becoming a minority. I understand this is how the economy is working at being efficient, but at what cost to workers and their families?

I won’t delve into the political implications of this, but will point out this isn’t what Americans signed up for. At least I didn’t. Is this really what we want our future to be?