Hooray for the Gig Economy?

We're always hearing hosannas for the gig economy and how it encourages creativity and flexibility among the workforce. It's worth remembering, however, that the phrase 'gig' comes from the music world, where barely any musicians at all can make an actual living playing gigs. I was just reading the latest Stephen McCauley novel and he observed that the gig/sharing economy just exists to make us feel like we're actually doing something while the middle class is being steadily decimated.