If the sharing economy is about renting, i’m out

my favourite question since day 1 in OuiShare.

0) Sustainable dev – allocation of ressources
Sharing a space – co using and re-using good in a time of intensive sustainable development needs is a very good move. It’s smart, it’s usefull, it’s logical.

1) definition of sharing
There are 2 different meanings I can attribute to sharing in french : partager, they are close, but refer to different feelings if I may say. The first one is something close to dividing. One Share says it all. We share shares, it’s close to mathematics and cold science. The other one is about experiences and humans, to experience something together as human, we shared a good moment : you can’t divide that moment I would rather say « living together » then divide.
It refers to me as the natural rush from children to divide things into pieces but to distribute shares to each person in a room in order to have the same piece of the cake and to eat the cake together and experience eating together
>> Sharing is caring

In this second part of the definition, sharing calls to the heart, to something warm, something profound and deep.

2) sharing and renting
There is nothing wrong with renting and earning money. The problem I see is when renting is called sharing, misusing the warm part of sharing to use a more trendy and human face.
Said in other words, in renting the story is not « people come together, put ressources in common and share them » it is « people who have some specific ressources rent them for other people who need them »

While you still have the allocation of ressources effect that suits sustainable development’s problem you just lost the sense of community and of deep connection.

3) money money money
Sharing is one of the most powerful resistance to the monetary system since it goes perfectly against its growth and program : monetizing and creating profit with everything nature gave us.
Sharing, as well as giving are 2 of the best counter-system answers that don’t contribute to monetize things. It is an act of resistance saying my relation has huge value but no price, I’d rather share my stuff/car/appartment then sell or monetize any of this. (see sacred economy from Charles Eisenstein)

4) the choice
While the monetary system is entering its final phasis, sharing, the warm one is very appropriate to resist, while sharing, the renting one is just more of the same monetization process (and there is nothing wrong with it).

This is why from day one I have been vigilant to what do we speak about when we speak about sharing and not to put all dynamics / organisations in the same box even if they have things in common.

5) my choice
I’m in love with the sharing economy, when we share something deep, create a relation between two beings. I believe this is the strongest and most sacred act we can do in order to solve our global enigma : get rid of profit-money and share some special moments together.

The renting economy doesn’t need my help nor my energy and this is not what I’m advocating for. It has nothing wrong but it doesn’t fit my agenda and my priorities and it doesn’t answer the world deepest problem to me.

6) stop the sharewashing & long live the renting economy
By calling the renting economy sharing, or by not getting into too much details about the differences between sharing and renting some companies are nurturing a lie for me. They are sharewashing. This is where my limits are.

Did you notice that renting comes from rente / rentable (which means profitable in french), quite different from the sharing – profound, human experience of being together that I spoke about earlier..

Long live the gift!