Is Uber technology or is it a Ponzi scheme? I admire their technology at the same time as I have absolutely no faith in their ability to ever turn a profit, and more particularly, ever be a net benefit.

No, the technology label is not sufficient. It isn't an immunity necklace. It doesn't mean inevitability. I say this as an engineer.

A company isn't a technology, it's a business model built on technology. Uber's technology (mobile-enabled P2P networks connecting service providers to customers) is definitely unavoidable. Uber's business model isn't.

Global nuclear war will quickly and reliably stop everything. There are powers which are very unhappy about the way technology is making them irrelevant and they see it as a fight for survival.

Civilisation is at a crossroad: continue building a high-tech society which makes humans irrelevant according to the current social/philosophical/moral norms (1) OR go back to the Dark Ages and let the powerful run the show (2).

If we want to continue with (1), we also have to quickly redefine the whole meaning of society, citizen, work, job, leadership, democracy, etc. This has to be done fast and it has to be done globally.

This will be very hard to do.