Nowadays whenever I hear the phrase "small business", the HATE monologue from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream instantly starts in my head.
In my country they've replaced the words "small business" with the acronym "SME's" (which stands for Small and Medium Enterprises) in their retoric because people became so repulsed at hearing the words "small business"
That's hilarious. Because the idea of small businesses still existing in any meaningful fashion became so absurd, they had to come up with a more esoteric term to throw people off the scent when they were lying about helping.
:agony-consuming:
This reminds me of the time I was so broke I had to buy groceries at my counties equivalent of target, on their credit store card program. I try to avoid this as much as possible because the interest is so insane but I had no cash at the time. Turns out that franchise is owned by Massmart holdings, which in turn is owned by fucking Walmart. Seriously fuck capitalism so much
Can't be much worse than my country lol, our covid stimulus is fucking 23 US dollars a month and that's it basically. Here's the real kicker, if you're already receiving any other government grant (like me) you're not eligible for the 23USD stimulus. Then the president goes and talks about lifting up SME's (code for small businesses) and all that shit. Fuck neoliberalism so much.
Forreal. It's one thing to critique neoliberalism and the way that society at large has designated the small business owner as the most oppressed, most important, and somehow in the lowest tier of society because workers don't exist. Because that means that Dems can get away with saying shit like this and have the public believe that this is going to help entire communities of color instead of just specific PoC individuals that own businesses. That's fucked up and worth critiquing.
But getting mad because they're not helping white owned businesses too is ??? that was never the issue. Just give people aid directly.
I know a few people who have or had small businesses. Like, actually small businesses, running things out of their homes basically. There is no end of confusing paperwork. Taxes are a nightmare. You need special insurance. You need permits. The barriers to entry for things like "selling arts and crafts out of your living room" are absolutely mind boggling. I don't know anyone who can really keep up. They do it for a few years, absolutely love it, fall behind on paperwork, and fold. Not because they aren't profitable but because they just can't keep up with the constant hoops the government throws at you to stop you from selling shit out of your living room.
There is almost no such thing as a small business in this country, and every single law to "help" small business actually just adds one more hoop that any remaining small businesses now have to find a way to jump through
