[thufry]

All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1%, and smartphones, which allow the customers or workers to send or receive requests at any time.

[jdminhbg]

> All of these new services that enable poor or lower-income people to serve rich people (Uber, TaskRabbit, Instacart) have been enabled by two main things: an economic recession that permanently eliminated a lot of jobs and the recovery which drove economics gains to the 1%

The 1% don't use Uber, TaskRabbit, or Instacart; they have actual personal drivers, servants, and chefs.

[thufry]

I'm using the word "1%" in the recently popularized figurative sense, the people who make enough money to outsource things like hailing a taxi or doing grocery shopping.

[jdminhbg]

That sort of makes your point an exercise in circular logic then: The recovery drove money to people who spend money on goods and services. Well yes, the people who work in fields that are doing well now are more likely to spend the money they get paid on new products.

[loganfrederick]

I think (or at least surmised) that the circular nature of the argument is part of the point. Previous economic happenings increased the wealth/income gap, but these new services have arrived which allow the wealthy to increase their standard of living while creating income for the lower classes, thus decreasing the gap to an extent.

[visakanv]

"the recently popularized figurative sense"

so how many % is the recently popularized figurative 1%?

[thufry]

Probably around 2%.

[tapatio]

You are 100% correct. The one percent do not use any of those services. As a one percenter mentioned to me, "why would I have a random person pick me up at the airport? My wife picks me up. And she does my shopping."

[voltagex_]

Here's another use case: I'm in a wheelchair and shopping is tricky. I'd LOVE this system to start up in Australia.

[johnrob]

Probably the biggest risk to crowdsouring is a reestablishment of the middle class. That will drive wages up to the point where these services end up too expensive or too poorly executed (by bottom of the barrel labor).

On a positive note (for these companies), I don't see the middle class coming back any time soon.