因为一个很简单的原因，所以共享经济即将失败——人不可信。
Earlierthis month an article in the South China Morning Post underscored just howbizarre the world of business has become. A Chinese startup offering tolend umbrellas to urbanites on the go was reportedly dealt a major blow when300,000 of its umbrellas went missing within mere months of the venturelaunching. The umbrella-sharing scheme required customers to make an initialdeposit equivalent to just over ￡2 after which they were charged 6p for everyhalf hour of use.
本月早些时候, 《南华早报》的一篇文章描述了当今商业世界已经变得多么怪异。据报道, 一个中国创业公司向城市居民提供雨伞, 在这个企业推出的短短几个月内, 30万把雨伞不翼而飞。这一共享服务要求顾客在每半小时内收取6便士的费用（约为五毛钱人民币）, 而最初的押金只有2英镑（约为18元人民币）。
Predictablyperhaps, problems stemmed from the portability of the object upon which thewhole system relied: busy city dwellers clearly liked the idea of having promptaccess to a sometimes unwieldy umbrella when the heavens opened, but they werethen taking the umbrellas home, stashing them away and forgetting about themaltogether.
也许可以预见, 问题源于整个系统所依赖的这个物品是可以轻易的被拿来拿去: 繁忙的城市人群显然喜欢这个主意，那就是在大雨来临之际能够迅速的找到一把的有时并不能随时携带的雨伞, 但之后，他们就把雨伞带回家了，放在这里或那里，然后，把它们忘得一干二净。
Thecompany appeared to have overestimated the trust and reliability of itsconsumer base, while disregarding the fact that humans are inherently selfish.
该公司看来是过高估计了消费大众的可以被信赖的和可靠的程度，同时无视人性本来就是自私的事实。
Fortunately,the damage in this case appears not to have been prohibitive. Sharing EUmbrella – as the company is called – has indicated that it’s heading back tothe drawing board and is hoping to re-launch with 30 million new umbrellas bythe end of the year. But the case nonetheless serves as a powerful metaphor forthe exploding sharing economy and the risks it bears.
幸运的是, 这件事上的损失并不是太高。这个叫做’共享 E 伞’的公司已经表示他们重新回到计划初期，希望在年内，再投入3000万新伞，重新出发。但是，这一事例却将一个隐喻表露无遗，说明了共享经济的爆炸性增长，以及它所承担的风险。
Theanecdote is also suggestive of the fact that – as the sharing economy becomes astaple of our vocabulary and starts to penetrate most sectors of globalindustry – we may well be underestimating one highly unpredictable X Factor.Namely, the human factor: We can’t be trusted. Nothing we do is ever altruisticand – to make matters worse – we’re often quite stupid. Sorry, but it’strue.
这件轶事也指出了这样一个事实: 随着共享经济成为我们日常词汇的主要部分, 并开始渗透到全球工业的大部分领域, 我们很可能低估了一个高度不可预测的 X 因素。那就是，人的因素: 我们靠不住。我们所做的一切都不是无私的, 而且--更有甚者--我们常常很笨。对不起, 但这是真的。
Thesharing economy is gargantuan. A recent research report published by Bank ofAmerica Merrill Lynch estimates the value of it is about$250bn (￡190bn) and it’s growing rapidly. It’s not hard to understandwhy it’s flourished in recent years. It aims to unlock the value of unused, orunderused, assets, saving us time, hassle and – crucially – money. We’re stillscarred by one of the worst recessions in history and many of us are natives ofthe World Wide Web. That’s what defines our habits.
共享经济是庞大的。美国银行美林最近发表的一份研究报告估计, 它的价值约为2500亿美元 (合1900亿英镑，相当于16793亿人民币)，而且它正在迅速增长。它在最近几年的蓬勃发展是不难理解的。它旨在解放未使用、或未充分利用的资产的价值，从而节省我们的时间、减少麻烦，最关键是，省钱。我们仍然受到历史上最严重的经济衰退的创伤，我们中的许多人都是在互联网的子民。它定义了我们的生活习惯。
Wewant top service, at rock-bottom prices, at the click of a button within thehour, and so the seeds have been sown for the emergence of car-sharing apps(Uber), rental companies (AirBnB), collaborative work spaces (WeWork) andentertainment sites (Spotify), to name but a few.
我们手下点一个按键、一个小时内、就能够以最低的价格、获得最好的服务，就这样，这些共享种子播种了，收获了我们目前看到共享汽车应用程序 (优步)， 度假屋租赁公司(Airbnb)，协作工作空间 (WeWork) 和娱乐网站(spotify)的为数众多的网站。
Asavailability grows, though, so too does the scope for trouble.
然而, 随着提供服务的增加, 出现问题的范围也在不断增加。
Earlierthis month, Chinesenews agency Xinhua reported that a company was forced to temporarily shutdown a string of shared napping pods for sleep-deprived workers in Beijing,Shanghai and Chengdu, on concerns the capsules could become a shelter forcriminals.
本月早些时候, 中国通讯社新华社报道称, 一家公司被迫暂时关闭了在北京、上海和成都为睡眠不足的工人提供的一系列共享的午睡箱, 担心这些午睡箱可能成为犯罪分子的避风港。
RachelBotsman, the author of the book The Rise Of Collaborative Consumption,told the publication Fast Company that we’re experiencing “a seismic shift fromindividual getting and spending towards a rediscovery of collective good.”
《合作消费的崛起》一书的作者Rachel Botsman 告诉刊物’Fast Company’, 我们正经历着 “从个人的获取和花费到重新发现集体利益的地震般的变化"。
Except,to my mind, the problem seems to be that we’re not actually hardwired to careabout this collective good. What we care about is maximising our own resources.We want a cheap holiday and are willing to throw caution to the wind. Whilewe’re away, we don’t want our apartment to sit empty when we could be using itto foot the bill of said holiday. We want a car to pick us up and take us home.Getting a cheap ride is more important than knowing that our driver is safe,reliable and honest.
但在我看来, 问题好像是, 我们实际上并不是真正地关心这个组合所提供的全部的好处。我们关心的是把我们自己的资源最大化。我们为了要一个便宜的假期而不惜把谨慎抛在脑后。当我们不在家的时候, 我们不希望我们的公寓空着, 因为我们可以用它来挣钱，用来支付这个假期费用。我们想要辆车来接我们并送我们回家，乘坐一辆廉价车的重要性，超过了我们对于司机是否安全、可靠和诚实的要求。
Ouroverwhelming demand for an effortless existence is encouraging the rise ofsupply at such a rapid pace that we risk losing sight of the basics: protectionand regulation.
我们被那些内在的、不用付出便可得到的满足需求的愿望冲昏了头脑，正以如此快的速度刺激着市场供应的增长, 以至于我们有可能失去对基本常识的关注: 那就是保障和规则。
Perhapsthe most distressing evidence of things getting out of control has been servedup by Uber – a veritable doyenne of the sharing economy. Sexual assault claimslevelled against drivers for the company have been blamed by campaigners onlacklustre background checks. Could that be because of how fast the company hasexpanded?
也许，事情已经发展到失控的地步的、最令人痛心的证据，就是由优步——一个名副其实的共享经济的元老公司。针对该公司司机的性攻击指控被维权人士指责，缺乏对受聘者背景调查。是不是因为公司扩张的速度太快了？
Butit’s a constant balancing act between greed and trust, value and cost,convenience and risk.
但它是，贪婪与信任、价值与成本、便利与风险之间的持续较量。
Icertainly don’t think of myself as an untrustworthy person, but I reckon evenI’d be capable of stashing away an umbrella and forgetting about it. Perhapsnot in London, but you get my point.
我当然不认为自己是一个靠不住的人,但我想即使是我也能把雨伞放起来,忘掉它。也许在伦敦做不到,但你明白我的意思。
来源：本文原载于“充满阳光的房间”微信公众号，为该公众号的原创作品，转载已获得授权。
（编辑:jilihua）
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