如今，共享经济正呈现出一种全新的含义

如今，共享经济正呈现出一种全新的含义

Companies that disrupted the way we traditionally have done business — Airbnb, ZipCar, and Uber, to name a few — seem to have hit the same major roadblock we're all facing: a fatally contagious virus that's forced us to rethink the way we share.

打破我们传统商业模式的公司——例如Airbnb、ZipCar和Uber——似乎也遇到了我们都面临的同样的主要障碍:一种致命的传染性病毒，迫使我们重新思考分享的方式。

A book shared by a neighbor and left on your doorstep may be the best book in the long run. (Photo: Albina Bugarcheva/Shutterstock)

As a result, they're falling on hard times. Even industry stalwart Airbnb is feeling the pandemic pinch. The short-term rental market is, understandably, in tatters.

结果，他们陷入了困境。就连行业中坚Airbnb也感受到了大流行带来的压力。短期租赁市场已经支离破碎，这是可以理解的。

It's one thing to share public spaces. But what about sharing people's homes and their cars?

共享公共空间是一回事。但是共享别人的房子和汽车呢?

This isn't about being a germaphobe. These days, it's a public health issue. And it's seriously impacting the bottom line of companies that, ironically, turned a profit from a communal lifestyle.

这并不是说要成为一个洁癖者。如今，这是一个公共健康问题。这严重影响了公司的底线，具有讽刺意味的是，它从公共生活方式中获得了利润。

The thing is, there's a much older sharing economy that predates even Uber — one that our parents and their parents before them have long relied on.

问题是，早在Uber出现之前，就有一个更古老的共享经济——我们的父母和他们之前的父母长期以来一直依赖于这个经济。

The original sharing economy

最初的共享经济

The proverbial borrowed cup of sugar has been replaced by flour. (Photo: threerocksimages/Shutterstock)

"There's a lot of flour, sugar and yeast passing from neighbor to neighbor these days, even if we're just leaving it on one another's doorsteps," Mike Allen writes in Axios. "We may not rush back into shared spaces — but we've experienced a profound demonstration of interdependence."

“如今，有很多面粉、糖和酵母从一个邻居家传到另一个邻居家，即使我们只是把它们放在别人家的门口，”迈克·艾伦在Axios网站上写道。“我们可能不会匆忙回到共享空间——但我们已经经历了相互依赖的深刻证明。”

And you don't actually have to personally know a neighbor to partake in it. Just about every neighborhood has a Facebook group where locals can arrange to share everything from jigsaw puzzles to kids' toys.

实际上，你并不需要亲自认识一个邻居来参与其中。几乎每个社区都有一个Facebook群组，当地人可以安排分享从拼图到儿童玩具的一切东西。

There are apps too, like Nextdoor and Olio. Even those tiny boxes, known as Little Free Libraries, are getting into the spirit of things. Instead of dispensing books freely to the neighborhood, they're getting stuffed full of staples like pasta, peanut butter and toilet paper.

也有一些应用程序，比如Nextdoor和Olio。即使是那些被称为“小免费图书馆”的小盒子，也正在融入到事物的精神之中。他们不再向邻居们免费分发书籍，而是塞满了像意大利面、花生酱和卫生纸这样的主食。

Of course, in pandemic times, every kind of sharing — whether it's an Uber ride or a neighbor's jar of peanut butter — comes with the same caveat: Be wary of those surfaces and disinfect accordingly.

当然，在大流行时期，每一种分享——无论是优步打车还是邻居的花生酱——都有同样的警告:小心触碰表面，并相应消毒。

But a book borrowed from a neighbor, rather than a public library, is probably a safer bet, having been passed around by fewer potentially problematic hands.

但是从邻居那里借的书，而不是从公共图书馆借的书，可能是更安全的选择，因为很少有潜在的问题出现。

Besides, there's a certain warm fuzziness about things shared between neighbors.

此外，邻里之间分享的东西有一种温暖的朦胧感。

This system is predicated on kindness over capitalism. And these days, that may be the most valuable currency of all.

这个体系建立在对资本主义仁慈的基础之上。如今，这可能是所有货币中最有价值的。