Side Hustles and Safety Nets: How a Balloon, a Side Hustle, and a Zombie Apocalypse Created the Gig Economy

 


Let’s start with a balloon. Not the party kind—this one was in France, in 1783.

Back then, the Montgolfier brothers launched the world’s first hot-air balloon flight, and the world collectively went, “Wait, we can do that?” Suddenly, the skies weren’t just for birds and angry gods—they were for entrepreneurs.

Fast-forward a century, and air travel wasn’t just a scientific curiosity—it was a business. By the 1920s, barnstormers flew rickety planes over farmland for a few coins and a chicken dinner. No unions. No contracts. Just wind, danger, and whatever gigs you could scrounge.

You know what that sounds like? Foreshadowing.

Now jump to 1974, when a little game called Dungeons & Dragons hit kitchen tables across America. It let you imagine yourself as anything—warrior, wizard, rogue—with one twist: you were freelance. You weren’t working for the king. You were just trying to survive, pick up loot, and make rent at the tavern. A fantasy? Maybe. But also... a metaphor for a future nobody saw coming.

Then, in 2008, two things happened almost simultaneously:

  1. The global economy collapsed.

  2. The iPhone got an app store.

With jobs disappearing, people turned to side hustles—driving, delivering, freelancing—anything to stay afloat. Platforms like Uber, TaskRabbit, and Fiverr didn’t invent precarious labor—they digitized it.

But here’s the kicker: these platforms didn’t see themselves as employers. They were “marketplaces.” You weren’t a worker. You were an “independent contractor.” No benefits. No stability. Just a five-star rating and a hope the algorithm liked you.

Now let’s talk zombies.

In the 2010s, pop culture became obsessed with the apocalypse. The Walking Dead, Black Mirror, Doomsday Preppers. And it wasn’t just escapism. It was a mood. Underneath the gore and gloom was an eerie lesson:

No one’s coming to save you.

That’s the emotional engine of the gig economy: every day is a scramble. No health care? Better hustle. Rent’s up? Time to get another app. Burned out? Grab a Red Bull and keep grinding.

The new economic hero isn’t the factory worker or the union organizer—it’s the gritty solo survivor, armed with a backpack full of apps and a Wi-Fi connection.

And just like the balloonists of old, you're flying solo—risky, romanticized, and entirely at the mercy of the weather.

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