I couldn’t disagree more. Uber and Airbnb disrupted institutional protections that were created out of needs that over time we forgot. Uber drivers make significantly less money than taxi drivers. Airbnbs aren’t subject to the same standards that hotels must uphold in terms of safety.
These disruptions are just workarounds for regulations that were created for real reasons. The gig economy makes earning a living more precarious.
I don't know that Third Worldization is anything new. "Third World" literature throughout the 20th century by Westerners is quite rich, from Rudyard Kipling and Pearl S. Buck to J.G. Ballard and all the "developing country" writers the publishing industry is trying to popularize now. Those phenomena were referred to by different names, certainly, but it was basically the same thing: exotic inspiration for use in the "First World." But there is a definite increase, and I think you're right about the discomfort of the Boomers. (Though I think in the Bay Area, there is less of a disdain towards imports: we love our San Francisco Chinatown. Or we did when I was growing up.) And I think you're right about under-the-table innovations making a bigger difference.
The questions that come to my mind are: 1) is this increase symptomatic of a bankruptcy of inspiration and ideas in the West?; and 2) even if it might look like reverse colonialism (which is happening in other parts of the West) could it also be symptomatic of a kind of transglobal brain drain? After all, Zimride was not founded by Zimbabweans but inspired by them. (I'll admit I'm asking them slightly rhetorically, since I would say yes and yes: but they are big issues as well, with a lot of angles to them)
By the way, if you haven't already and ever felt like it, I'd be interested in reading about Gabon. I hear it's a beautiful country, safe by African standards and has beautiful beaches. Capital: Libreville, language: French. But don't know much else besides that.
I couldn’t disagree more. Uber and Airbnb disrupted institutional protections that were created out of needs that over time we forgot. Uber drivers make significantly less money than taxi drivers. Airbnbs aren’t subject to the same standards that hotels must uphold in terms of safety.
These disruptions are just workarounds for regulations that were created for real reasons. The gig economy makes earning a living more precarious.
I don't know that Third Worldization is anything new. "Third World" literature throughout the 20th century by Westerners is quite rich, from Rudyard Kipling and Pearl S. Buck to J.G. Ballard and all the "developing country" writers the publishing industry is trying to popularize now. Those phenomena were referred to by different names, certainly, but it was basically the same thing: exotic inspiration for use in the "First World." But there is a definite increase, and I think you're right about the discomfort of the Boomers. (Though I think in the Bay Area, there is less of a disdain towards imports: we love our San Francisco Chinatown. Or we did when I was growing up.) And I think you're right about under-the-table innovations making a bigger difference.
The questions that come to my mind are: 1) is this increase symptomatic of a bankruptcy of inspiration and ideas in the West?; and 2) even if it might look like reverse colonialism (which is happening in other parts of the West) could it also be symptomatic of a kind of transglobal brain drain? After all, Zimride was not founded by Zimbabweans but inspired by them. (I'll admit I'm asking them slightly rhetorically, since I would say yes and yes: but they are big issues as well, with a lot of angles to them)
By the way, if you haven't already and ever felt like it, I'd be interested in reading about Gabon. I hear it's a beautiful country, safe by African standards and has beautiful beaches. Capital: Libreville, language: French. But don't know much else besides that.