The world knows how to share. It is one of the few constructs that hasn’t been wiped under the proverbial mouse pad in recent years. But the two-day SHARE Conference held last week in San Francisco – which attempted to look at how communities can organize themselves to benefit the many rather than to enrich the few – left some hopeful and others frustrated, or even more confused.
One community activist, Michael Jimenez from San Jose, sat silently off to the side of the conference. Jimenez had been looking at the commons and other sharing ideas as a means to bring about radical economic change in his city. But after the sessions were over, he asked what many had been wondering throughout the conference: “Is this a shared economy for all, or are the big corporations attempting to take that away from us?”
The sharing economy should not be new to most Internet users who have ever traversed eBay, Craigslist or other community-styled efforts that give citizens more say in how they sell and trade local services. In a nutshell, the share community is a socio-economic system built “around the sharing of human and physical assets” – from labor to consumption, by groups, organizations or individuals.
Douglas Atkin, AirBnB's head of community and e-staff, argued that the company's effort is a quintessential part of the sharing economy as it allows users to list their room for a specific price and receive most of the profits from the rental.
“We are keen to get more and more people onto this platform to take control of how they divide their time, and AirBnB is a key focal point in what could become a larger, more sustained move into sharing,” he told the audience.
Still, Atkin found criticism on the sidelines as a handful of activists questioned his company’s role in the ongoing gentrification of San Francisco, and the land grabs by corporate real estate firms that are now listing their rooms on AirBnB – all while eviction rates are on a steep rise due to skyrocketing city rents.
Atkin responded that he regrets this rental scheme is happening at the hands of big companies – and that it's a new facet of current capitalism that AirBnB is looking to better understand.
“I can’t speak on specifics, but going forward, we at AirBnB want to make sure people have the right to make a living, and if that is renting a room or a flat out, then that is what we are going to do,” he told Occupy.com after his talk.
Despite growing concerns that companies like AirBnB are beginning to dominate the “sharing economy” and manifest little more than a new moneymaking scheme, brighter points at the conference focused on equality and equity as impacts that sharing is having in communities. Nikki Silvestri, executive director of Green for All, argued that the sharing economy is key to changing the social and economic status quo in the United States.
“We have too many communities right now not participating in the sharing economy, whether that be online or offline,” said Silvestri. “People need to be educated on how they can connect with others to form an alliance and begin the process.”
As economic difficulties persist, particularly among communities of color facing higher levels of economic discrimination, Jose Quinonez of San Francisco's Mission Asset Fund said that as long as those working in collectives and other sharing economy endeavors maintain a sense of equity, a new model is possible.
“What we are witnessing is a massive movement away from traditional means of functioning in the economy and society, and this has resulted in a push toward sharing,” he said. For Quinonez, the issue is about understanding current restrictions and problems facing people across the country as a result of economic disparity – specifically, the overwhelming access the upper classes have to capital.
As the CEO of the Fund, Quinonez seeks to create more access and greater economic power to those who need it, by connecting them directly with individuals and groups capable of delivering that assistance.
Despite the deeper tensions exposed between haves and have nots, Jimenez reflected on the two days of discussions at the SHARE Conference and said he felt empowered. Still frustrated that corporations and the wealthy speak with a louder voice than the average citizen, he said the share economy brings exciting potential to change that.
“I found that while I was slightly angered at AirBnB for not taking into consideration the people affected by their company actions, they have a model that if people truly do come together on something, it can transcend how we think about things,” Jimenez said. “We need to start acting and finding those around us who want the same things. No more excuses for this country – because we have the power to make change happen.”
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