Gary Johnson has a vision for the future: Apply Uber’s on-demand, sharing economy model to just about everything.
The libertarian candidate for president shared his utopian (or dystopian) dream at a rally in Seattle Saturday, The Stranger reports.
“The model of the future is the sharing economy,” Johnson said. “It’s Uber. It’s Airbnb. I think it’s gonna be Uber everything.”
It’s a common refrain from the third-party candidate’s campaign. He expressed it at INNOVATE2016 in July, promising to “stop with the restriction,” on services like Uber and Airbnb. Johnson then echoed those sentiments at a Times Square rally last week.
“It’s Uber electrician, it’s Uber plumber, it’s Uber doctor,” said the former governor of New Mexico.
Uber is, in many ways, a libertarian’s perfect proof-of-concept, “eliminating the middle man, you reap the rewards of your individual efforts,” Johnson told MTV News earlier this year.
Of course, that also means accepting the social consequences when companies like Uber and Airbnb become massive and ubiquitous without restrictions. Critics worry the services cripple traditional businesses, put users in unsafe situations, and raise other concerns.
Johnson (and much of the tech community) would argue these are small prices to pay for innovation and a free market.
Beyond deregulating the sharing economy, Johnson’s position on immigration and internet freedom is more in line with the tech world. He advocates for a reformed work visa system and online privacy. Johnson is also the only candidate that openly admits to cannabis use, for what it’s worth.
Perhaps those factors contribute to Johnson’s 16 percent support in Washington state, approximately double his national average.
Still, the state’s liberal contingent might take issue with his pro-gun position, ‘pay as you go healthcare’ plans, or desire to eliminate the federal Department of Education.
Johnson has no real shot at challenging Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton come November but his (relatively) successful third-party bid reflects how unusual and uninspiring this election season has been.
As The Guardian notes, Johnson’s poll numbers indicate “the best performance by a third-party candidate in 20 years.”
