Is a Sharing Economy Inevitable?
A few weeks back, I agreed (hesitantly) to sit in the passenger seat as my little sister took the wheel to practice driving for the first time. After about an hour of inconsistently accelerating and decelerating through winding New Hampshire backroads, it dawned on me that her generation is the last generation that will need to practice the skill of driving. Autonomous cars are already a reality today, even if the technology is in its infancy stage. And while this is great news for future siblings (and their necks/blood pressure) who would've otherwise been roped into the same situation, it made me ask the question - is a sharing economy inevitable?
When I sit down and really think about what resources I own that I use on a daily basis, I can count them on one hand. I own a vehicle, but its utility has been drastically diminished since moving to Boston and utilizing public transportation. I own a guitar amp that sits and collects dust in my closet because it's far too powerful for my apartment complex. And I couldn't tell you the last time I used the printer that sits under my desk. It has become increasingly more apparent to me that most of the material objects I own, I could easily do without. Or at the very least, only rent or borrow when needed.
It isn't too farfetched to imagine a future where nearly everything is decentralized. With the rise of Airbnb, cryptocurrencies (and blockchain technology), Lending Club, etc., it's easy to see the trend has been heading towards a peer-to-peer direction. And with the recent uprising of minimalist living (think of the tiny house movement), people are slowly detaching themselves from their material possessions to live a more fulfilled and free life. I use free as a hyperbole here, but I'm referring to Tyler Durden's classic quote 'the things you own end up owning you.'
In the near future, why would you want to buy a car and accrue debt when you can use an app to summon a Tesla to pick you up and bring you to and from work daily? Why rely on banks to borrow/lend money when crowdsourcing and P2P lending is available? Why own objects that just take up space when we literally pay by the square footage for housing?
As the world's population increases, and resources become more and more scarce, I'm inclined to think that a sharing economy would benefit billions. So, is it inevitable or am I just daydreaming about a utopian future?
