Sharing Economy – Part of the Future?
To not use and share the things we buy and learn is often wasteful. How we behave and conduct ourselves in sharing and exchanging things and ideas is paramount to most ventures, otherwise they fail.
We buy a number of things that we do not use (or underutilise) and they are often left in attics, basements, backyards and ultimately in landfills, deserted lots or even the oceans. If materials were made to last, to be used, easily repaired and finally recycled there would be many overall benefits.
We have skills and knowledge that others could benefit from and they are not shared or shared enough. If we shared these skills and experiences, this might help the prosperity of others and also provide intrinsic benefit to the ones providing the service - pay it forward philosophies come to mind. Examples include helpful you tube videos and a recent example would be showing someone how to set up a cryptocurrency wallet.
I believe that if we had a more sharing based economy, which was driven from the bottom up we could decrease our costs, help reduce waste, save time and help promote a greater sense of community.
Why do we consume so much?
Habit.
Image.
Sure, we buy many things that need to be consumed and used such as food, fuel, building materials, clothes, and so on, but there are many things that we have that are not used and are underutilized such as tools, sporting equipment, books, etc. We are bombarded with advertisements everywhere, on the internet, TV, radio, billboards; we are persuaded to buy, buy and buy - the economy depends on it.
Also, part of the human psyche is based on image and the need to feel as part of a group or a socio-economic class; we fell compelled to buy a certain house, car, truck, wear certain clothes – this drives all of us to a certain extent at different stages of our lives and can be a primary driver for many.
How much food and material is wasted? At what point does the cost of maintaining image make us unhappy?
Benefits of Sharing: Developing Communities and Costs per Use
Depending on where you live and the situation, a community may be thriving or the people in the community may be living in their own bubbles, contained within fences, behind doors, unaware of many of the members of their community. Regardless of where our communities fit within this spectrum, there may be opportunities for increased sharing and increased prosperity and benefits, as opportunities to meet people are increased, more ideas are shared and a sense of community is deepened.
A more sharing based economy could help reduce overall, cradle-to-grave costs per use. Within the overall economy, instead of simply price driving most markets, overall costs per use would drive markets, especially in light of combining utility with the other holistic benefits including developing communities and providing more sane environmental stewardship.
Challenges
In order for a more sharing based economy to take place, people will simply need to cooperate more. Sharing involves trust and this needs to be considered otherwise we have delinquent individuals who abuse the system, e.g. return materials not in the shape they were received or have IOUs that are not paid. These challenges and other challenges need to be considered.
Possible Solutions
We would need a means to hold each other accountable and to enable the change – perhaps block chain technologies could help. Let’s say there is a block chain technology where coins are earned through materials shared and services rendered, where coins are exchanged when materials are returned and the service was received. Reputation could be built into the fabric, similar to steem. Simple contracts could be exchanged to help facilitate this exchange.
At present, this is a mere idea and I have not vetted the details. I am sure there are better ideas out there or even others comments could help develop this idea.
Conclusion
In the end, such an idea as a more sharing economy could help complement the current economy, help in times of increased unemployment, exchange value instead of having it remain latent and also, perhaps it can bring our communities a little closer together, one locality at a time.
One of the challenges of the sharing economy is that it's deflationary. Not a problem in itself, but a problem for asset class holders.
Not an issue, if 1 asset goes down another has to go up, remember a market is a relative ratio between 2 things.
So if we are using a currency, and say we are sharing corn through that currency, then automatically the currency goes up, while the price of corn goes down.
Good point, there would definitely need to be consideration for transition effects, including possible inflationary or deflationary pressures. I think that asset class holders would be OK long term but that those heavily in debt would have greater difficulty, especially in any deflationary financial cycle.
If there is increased inflation, then a sharing economy may provide a means and tools (under the power of people) to help return balance via deflationary pressure. If people have more needs met through a sharing economy, they have more money to save, invest or pay down debt, along with consumption. Confidence in the economy and a restoring of the velocity of money could then increase inflationary pressures to restore any excessive deflationary inbalances.
Generational differences (boomers, millennials etc.) would need to be taken into consideration and monetary policy as well. However, I believe that increases in wealth inequality challenges not just the economy but also other aspects of humanity including social programs, sound money and environmental stewardship; and a sharing economy may be part of the solution to return balance.
Awesome idea! Just like many other things, it needs to be tried to see its effects. Or could there already be evidence of a sharing economy, to some extent, in certain communities? Car pooling, or a tool library are the first thing that come to mind...
Anyway, there is another great book I should mention (maybe in a separate post). Do you know Sacred Eceonomics by Charles Eisenstein? Probably the most recommendable book I know. It talks about similar things.
I believe that aspects of a sharing economy have always existed, you see this in some families and among some friends. Having it extend to those we do not know is starting to show more and more including airbnb, uber etc. which are now a part of the economy.
I agree about making ideas practical, perhaps we can try things ourselves and share our experiences and together, build on these ideas.
Thanks for the book suggestion, I will look it up.
Thank you for these wonderful ideas for a sharing economy that can be beneficial for all and for our planet.
Thank you @siriusgaia
Thanks for writing this article and helping promote an new form of economics and method for humans to relate! Let's continue to play at creating a new way for humans to relate, sacred economics, sharing economies, collaborative living, etc. All means of evolving our cultures to the next level of human development :)Simbi is the sharing economy in action! It's pretty awesome the transition we are making :)
Wow, I had not heard of Simbi. Thanks for the link, I will definitely look into it. In my view, that is definitely a piece of the puzzle.
Definitely! Local currencies, sharing economies, cryptocurrency, removing dependence on currency in general by increasing (social, cultural, natural, material, spiritual, intellectual, exeperiencial) capital) sometimes our culture tends to forget about all the other mediums of interacting and relating to each other to meet our needs :)
Good tip indeed, thanks.
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