This is an interesting idea I hadn't considered before

This has been on the Forefront of my mind for a long time. Without getting too political it seems that many places, California especially, are Waging War against ad hoc labor and small businesses. Individuals are difficult to regulate in comparison to large businesses and individual autonomy comes with the trade-off of less security and protections.

I believe a big chunk of the homelessness today were people who were able to sustain themselves with ad-hoc labor and housing arrangements . Though they’re not comfortable holding down a 9-5 (blue or white collar) , they could pick up an ad-hoc job as needed until their next transition.

We’ve replaced a once diverse and diffused economy with a “all or nothing” labor workplace. Either you are “in the system” working full time or multiple part-time gigs, on assistance, or on the streets. There’s no real room for transients, hippies, hobos and the like to sustain themselves as they had.

Yeah, the other angle is the over-regulation of housing. Ad-hoc workers often lived out of boarding and flop houses, or otherwise simple accommodations.

Just like ad-hoc work has been outlawed to "protect the workers", minimalist shelter has been outlawed to "protect the tenants".

Both of these endeavors provide some benefit to a certain vulnerable groups, but they absolutely cut the legs out from under other even more vulnerable groups.

I can build a decent shack for less $1,000, or a crappy one for $200. To be clear, I wouldnt want to live in it, but it would be a hell of a lot better than living on the sidewalk. Meanwhile, low income housing projects tag in at more than a million per unit, so few get built.

People say it is inhumane to let people live in a shack, small rooms, or flop houses so it should be illegal. However, they balk at the cost of the alternatives and people are simply left out in the street.

A free person can't voluntarily choose to build or rent an 8x8' shack, but the state can lock you in a 8x8' cell for breaking the law.

Same here in Kentucky. As a self-employed carpenter, these last 2 years have been brutal. There's work, but somehow the big exploitative companies just slurp up all the work. Most of my jobs this year have been friends and family who felt sorry for me and had bits of work done here and there. Seems like the only option anymore is to work for a capitalist or die.

What's the difference between ad hoc labour and the gig economy?

Labor is an individual characteristic which happens to increase in skill. A person good at building cabins can have a nice cabin.

The gig economy is a set of relationships between the state of problems and pay. It pressures workers with the fewest skills to successively solve the same problem.

That's a good distinction, thanks.

By ad hoc I mean transients, hobos , hippies— people “off grid”— who want to pick up a cash job for a few weeks or a couple months e.g farm work, dishwashing, construction site, nursing, hospitality etc.

You show up to the owner, negotiate on the spot and start working.

the gig economy requires a credit card, bank account, background check , smartphone, app install etc – and all the tracking and hassle that goes with it.

Thanks for the clarification.

I always found it funny that people in the informal economy (including hippies selling bracelets) aren't the biggest free market supporters.

It's always like this - plenty of people who experienced raw version of the Internet as kids/teenagers/young adults with all the unfiltered content are now the ones installing various filters, gates, laws intended to exert control - but it's for the children, eh? Bullshit