[P2P-F] Fwd: Analysis of how Monkey Parking crosses the line

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: David Week (Assai) <dew at assai.com.au>
Date: Sat, Jun 28, 2014 at 2:27 AM
Subject: Analysis of how Monkey Parking crosses the line
To: Michel Bauwens <michel at p2pfoundation.net>



http://www.salon.com/2014/06/27/libertarians_anti_government_crusade_now_theres_an_app_for_that/

Libertarians’ anti-government crusade: Now there’s an app for that -
Salon.com
Monkey Parking’s solution intended to generate profit off of a public good
by rewarding those who are able to pay — and shutting out the less
affluent. That’s outrageous and not something any civilized society should
tolerate. (By way of contrast, you can make a decent case that an operation
like Airbnb provides real value to the less affluent, both in savings on
hotel rooms, and in earnings from letting out spare rooms.)

And yet at the same time, understanding where Monkey Parking crosses the
line helps us better appreciate why we should hold up every “sharing
economy” app to close scrutiny. The entitlement and obvious self-interest
that led Monkey Parking to decide it could solve a San Francisco municipal
problem with a blatantly illegal business model is shared by many
“disruptive” entrepreneurs — often cloaked under the cover of libertarian
ideology.

More to the point: finding ways to exploit regulatory loopholes is another
way to game public goods. If, for example, hotels have to pay taxes and
abide by safety regulations that private homeowners do not, Airbnb gains a
competitive advantage. Those safety regulations are a kind of public good.
But the profit-focused sharing economy tends to see regulations as a
hindrance. What we end up with, if we just let the disruptors proceed as
they please, is the kind of digital economy Ronald Reagan might have
envisioned. Government is an irrelevant obstacle, while the benefits of
sharing economy apps trickle down to everyone!





-- 
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