Too Small to Not Fail

The Pew Research Center reports that small business owners are now trusted, by the public, more than any of the following: churches, colleges, technology companies (assuming they aren't small, I guess), labor unions, large corporations, Wall Street, banks, the federal government, federal agencies, the national news media, Congress, and the entertainment industry. And the only surprising thing about this finding is how little a surprise it is. We've come to expect, as a matter of course, that government, unions, and big business do not have our best interests in mind... and that academics, the media, and the entertainment industry are primarily engaged in subverting the values of “mainstream America”. These things are simply taken for granted in our time... and it's hard to remember, or even imagine, a time when things were any other way. When the “tea partiers” are criticized for being adversarial and “negative”, the criticisms invariably come from the people who happen to be among the controlling elite. Of course revolutions or threatened revolutions always look “negative” to the people in charge; how could they not? But what the media fail to realize is that a large portion of the people they depend on for their cash flow are those very people whom they belittle and criticize, day in and day out, for all sorts of sins and thought crimes against the totalitarian state. If only everyone who agrees with the tea partiers would stop buying MSM periodicals and turn off their TV! But I guess they've come to like getting beaten up on a daily basis – it proves, on some level, that they're on the right track.

You'll also notice that nearly all of the “less trusted” entities listed above are drawn from what I call the non-productive or parasite class. Labor unions are on the list, but not labor – i.e. not actual working men and women. Technology companies are on the list, I suspect, because very people understand what they do – although it could also be because so many of them have become so overwhelmingly huge and powerful. (Microsoft is the Standard Oil of our time, e.g.) And what does Wall Street produce? Nothing that the average American can understand or appreciate. They mostly make money by shuffling paper around at hurricane-like speeds. What does that contribute to the welfare or quality of life of the ordinary citizen? Government is starting – very gradually! -- to be seen as part of the problem – as, basically, a gigantic tumor on the body of the productive citizenry. And the media – both entertainment and “news” -- are increasingly seen as nothing more than the propaganda arm of the government, or the Regime, or the establishment. And what about academics – the “idea people”? Well, it can be argued that any idea that is being promoted and implemented by government today started in colleges and universities a generation ago. 'Nuff said! Congress, of course, gets low ratings because it's seen as basically a powerless front for the people who are really in charge – and a farce to boot. If the president is a puppet, Congressmen are puppets without strings – basically in a state of collapse.

But then what about small business? How does it differ from all of the above? For one thing, it is typically engaged in providing goods and services that are not only understandable by the average citizen, but actually of some use. Of so much use, in fact, that they are in demand and sought after on the free market. How many of the “services” (because there are no real “goods”) of those other entities can make that claim? Very few if any. That's what I mean by the “parasite class” -- where the market is missing, or has been short-circuited, what remains is people doing things that have no market value, i.e. who have to be supported by confiscated wealth.

So there is a supply and demand function when it comes to small businesses. And also, their operations are, by and large, local and visible. They are not so multi-layered that we can't tell who owns and operates them or who works for them. But the most unique feature is this: They are not “too big to fail”. In fact, they fail all the time, and are replaced, and there is this constant “churning” that reflects, if you will, the bottom line of the supply-and-demand function. Either you perform in a way that makes sense, or you fail and have to leave the playing field. Contrast this with large corporations, if you will, which are assured of “bailouts” in case of failure – which means that, in fact, they _can't_ fail. Which, in turn, means that there are no differential rewards for success or failure as these terms are normally used – success equals success, and failure also equals success. Which means, in the long run, the people who succeed at this level are not the ones who are skilled at bringing marketable goods and services before the public, but the ones who are skilled at gaming the system – i.e. the government. And we see that this new species of “managers” has already taken over all corporations of any size in this country, as well as banks, stock brokerages, mortgage companies – you name it. They live in an entirely different world from that of the small businessman, with an entirely different set of rewards, and no punishments. They are no longer small business writ large, assuming they ever were – they are an entirely new mutation, and one that (unlike most mutations) is thriving beyond belief -- at least for the present, although I can't imagine this model being sustainable in the long run.

But aside from these considerations, there is another – let's call it a social, or political -- consideration. It was once said about a politician, “Everyone hates him but the people.” Well it's pretty much the same in the case of small business. They aren't big enough to inspire awe or fear, and yet they aren't small enough (i.e., nonexistent) to satisfy collectivists. Historically, when a communist or socialist regime is established, what do they invariably go after first? Big business, i.e. the “fat cats”? No – because they need them too much. It's small businesses that have to be snuffed out with all dispatch – and that includes farms large enough to have employees. Remember the “kulaks” -- the prosperous farmers in the Soviet Union? They were the first to be hauled off to the gulag – the ones who weren't simply shot, that is. Why? Because they were “standing in the way of progress” -- i.e. collectivization (you know – that idea that resulted in all the famines). And what happened to small business owners? They got “denounced” by envious neighbors and people who had failed to keep their own businesses running profitably. Now, this is not precisely what is happening in this country, but it is on the same continuum. Socially and politically, the small businessman represents everything that the sophisticated elite fear and despise... and politically, they are, by and large, unapologetically conservative. So they have to go! And I don't think there has been a significant government program since before the New Deal that is “pro” small business – or, let's say, the aggregate of all government programs – which frequently contradict each other – has been overwhelmingly “con”. In fact, you can come up with a pretty good gauge of how hostile a given administration is to small business by the frequency with with they use the term – kind of like “middle class”. And Obama has declared war on both – you can tell by how often he and his minions talk about them.

So yes, small business may be “the backbone of America”, but the goal of this administration (and most others of late) has been to relieve America of its backbone and, basically, render it helpless in the face of aggression by the globalists. Small business people tend to care about America – and that's what makes them dangerous. Heck, they might even have a few things to say about illegal immigration... or the death tax... or inflation... or free trade... or even the balance of payments. All very dangerous, reactionary, socially backward. And don't even get the coastal elites started on their life style or tastes! No, clearly, this is one class of society we can do quite well without... so it really doesn't matter if ordinary people trust them more than anyone else. In fact, that's just further evidence that they have to be eliminated as soon as possible.