'Welcome' to the Sharing Economy -- Also Known as the Collapse of the American Dream

Your opportunity to be a "micro-entrepreneur": By cleaning other people's homes or renting out your spare room. Thomas Friedman, and others, have recently extolled the virtues of the sharing economy (see "Welcome to the Sharing Economy," or "How to Monetize Your Closet"). At the risk of bragging, my immigrant parents were clearly trendsetters in this area. They typically rented or borrowed spare rooms (rather than stay at motels/hotels, or in a regular apartment), cars, clothing, shoes or pretty...