The concept of “sharing economy” as represented by Uber and AirBnB will prove to be a higher priority in local areas with a smaller population rather than large cities.
In the past, it was the idea of helping one another that served as the foundation of small communities. For instance, it was common practice for people who have free time to support those who are busy, for the healthy to help the sick, or people who have resources to lend them to people who lack them. As such, everyone would simultaneously act as a supplier and consumer.
But after the currency system reached as far as local areas, the line separating suppliers and consumers has become much more obvious, with many people acting exclusively as consumers except when at their jobs ー meaning that this idea of “cooperative community” has faded away with time.
For instance, the average person uses their car 1-2 hours a day. In other words, it’s not being used over 90% of the day. It’s not just cars: we find many useful resources stationary in local areas, like land, buildings, materials and human resources.
And yet, most people argue that “we don’t have enough resources for a comfortable lifestyle”. I think it’s because they see themselves just as consumers, and resources should then be provided by professional suppliers.
If we change this way of thinking and start to think of ourselves as suppliers, we can find a lot of available resources around us.
It would be impractical to increase service availability in local areas. The fundamental principle where suppliers have a variety of services available so long as consumers can afford it only applies to growing economy. As the population decreases, so does their economic power, it is vital that we find a way to share the resources each of us possesses in order to maintain a comfortable lifestyle.
For instance, while the taxi industry will not reach as far as local areas, there are many people who own private cars and might have time to spare. Although the construction of new hotels or inns might not be a profitable investment, some of the locals might be willing to let you stay the night at their place.Opening a cramming school might be difficult, but some people might find the time to help children with their studies. Providing the services we seek from professional companies between ourselves as part of the local community is an option well within the population’s reach.
Considering the recent changes in the way we communicate, talking and helping each other on a daily basis like we used to might be difficult. Perhaps the way to overcome this would be to use technology to connect the available resources and people in need of them ー this is how “sharing economy” acts as a feasible solution.