04 April, 2015

The Shut-In Economy — Matter — Medium

The Shut-In Economy — Matter — Medium:

In many ways, social
class can be defined by the chores you don’t do. The rich have personal
assistants, butlers, cooks, drivers. The middle class largely do their
own errands — with the occasional babysitter, pizza boy, maybe a
cleaner. The poor do their own chores, and the chores of other people.

Then
came on-demand’s disruptive influence. The luxuries usually afforded to
one-percenters now stretch to the urban upper-middle class, or so the
technology industry cheers. But can you democratize the province of the
rich without getting a new class acting, well, entitled? My parents made
me put away the dishes not to “outsource” their workload — they could
have done it faster. They did it so I wouldn’t turn out to be a brat.

Now an entire generation is not just being served: It’s having to work out what it means when you buy someone to do it for you.