At least they are paying these workers something? That's the standard we're defending? And who is in a better position to help the worker...us, or, I don't know, their employer? I think we'd get much farther shaming companies for their treatment of employees than hacker news commenters for not doing their "fair share". And for that matter, this a forum: what we do here is talk. It's silly to suggest people shouldn't speak their mind because it's not a "contribution".
I think the problem is the duo of valuing labor using free market capitalism, and requiring people earn quite a bit of money just to survive, let alone thrive.
Finding alternatives won't be easy, but the continuing reduction in demand for human labor due to increased productivity in technology gives us little alternative.
Also: San Francisco is built on a fault line. Most other places, it's cheaper to build a safe high rise.
