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The fact that Uber and Lyft aren't alone in no way invalidates their behavior. "But everyone is doing it" is not an effective argument here. It's a major, major problem that everyone is doing it.

There's an entire political movement eager to campaign on that has been gaining energy the last few years because people are losing faith in the current system.

It doesn't validate their behavior but it points toward the issue being systematic within the U.S. economy rather than due to the corporate governance at Lyft and Uber.

None of those businesses expect employees to take capital risk by categorizing them as contractors. They are quite different in that respect.

I'm quite sure these companies work with plenty of contractors, you just haven't heard of them.

I would also wager that the vast majority of ordinary taxi drivers are self-employed and working for some agency, an arrangement not too dissimilar to that of Uber/Lyft.

Or, for that matter, non-profits like Meals-on-Wheels, Home of Guiding Hands or Habitat for Humanity.