The share economy allows people to use their invested capital (vehicle, home, etc) to generate income - the platforms like Airbnb and Uber provide high quality

The share economy allows people to use their invested capital (vehicle, home, etc) to generate income - the platforms like Airbnb and Uber provide high quality alternatives and came about due to a void in the market. I have 3 personal anecdotes, you can ignore them if you'd like, but I'm a proponent of the sharing economy. 1. I'm from Austin, Texas where prior to Uber it was impossible to get a ride unless you were directly downtown. I've called cab companies and they no-showed, leaving me stranded in the middle of no where. There isn't enough density for public transit and when Uber and Lyft entered the market, it changed our lives. Prior to the existence of these companies, there was rampant drinking and driving. I went to school here, and every party was essentially binge drinking followed by a harrowing 30 minute drive where everyone on the roads at 2am is a drunk driver. 2. My sister is a teacher, single mother, and low income. She uses Uber on the weekends to make extra income and help support her child. For her, the flexibility of being able to drive whenever for a quick buck is key to closing the gap that Texas politics hasn't quite solved. I'm going to preempt the argument and say I agree that UBI may be the solution more generally to workers needing to rely on their employers. 3. My mother is retired and generates ~1000/month in income from social security payments. She did not plan for retirement, has no savings, and has moved in with my sister to help out. Her day job is managing Airbnb rentals in Austin and she rents out a room in their house for extra income (~700/mo). Her quality of life is much higher than it would be without Airbnb, and her ability to schedule, find and vet potential tenants without Airbnb would be pretty much nil. I recognize these are not the same 'workers' whom are being pathologically disadvantaged by the rules of these platforms - I think they're the ideal users that product people pin on the whiteboard. I come from a low income background and only see positives, had Uber been around when I was in school I wouldn't have worked for $5.15 washing dishes in a rat infested kitchen, done tech support for wireless hotspots in trailer parks or been a valet on 6th street dealing with intoxicated people. I've had about ~20 low skilled, hourly jobs that essentially dominated my life at the time and I had very little mobility or earning power, having the opportunity to leverage my vehicle and time flexibly would've been enormous.