While the news cycle lately has been filled with reports of massive layoffs at giant corporations across all industries, astute viewers are starting to discuss a detail that most journalists have failed to mention or even notice.
It’s the fact that as these giant corporations are slashing jobs to bump their stock price by a quarter point, small businesses are doing everything they can to avoid layoffs, even when it means cutting into their own profits. This shouldn’t surprise most people though, because entrepreneurs tend to live and work in the same communities as their employees, so they tend to care more about their teams. They also tend to create a better working environment for their staff for all the same reasons. And most of all, they care about the future of America.
While it’s become somewhat cliche, many small businesses really do nurture a family type of environment and go far beyond the typical giant company when it comes to supporting their employees.
And we’re not talking about a few low wage jobs here and there. For context, the Small Business Administration (SBA) defines a small business as one with fewer than 500 employees and businesses with annual revenue under $7.5 million—and these businesses account for a staggering 99.9% of all businesses and 45.9% of all jobs in the U.S. The reality is that in the U.S., small business not only provides nearly half of all jobs available, it also drives innovation, creates jobs in geographic areas that big corporations can’t or won’t, and creates both financial and social freedom for citizens.
Their innovation comes from competition. While giant corporations can often coast on autopilot thanks to their size, marketing budget, and name recognition, small businesses need to provide greater value and be more creative in their marketing efforts in order to survive. This benefits consumers in a big way by providing more and better options. And since these small businesses tend to hire locally, they create jobs in remote geographic areas that giant corporations simply aren’t interested in, fostering a more diverse job market and opportunities for more Americans.
It doesn’t take a PhD in economics to understand that one of the biggest factors in achieving financial and social freedom is a stable job that pays well and gives employees the flexibility they need to build the life they want.
Giant corporations, on the other hand, tend to suppress wages and freedom by gobbling up the workforce in a given area and stifling local competitors, known as The Walmart Effect. This often becomes a race to the bottom until eventually, once the local market is no longer sustainable for a giant company, it then pulls out of the area leaving a gaping void. Along the way, these companies tend to leverage their deep pockets and cozy relationships with lobbyists to influence legislation that benefits them and hurts local businesses with long lasting negative impact.
This scenario would be akin to a medieval peasant, equipped with just a sword and a wooden shield, heading into battle against the U.S. military today.
The disparity is tremendous, and it’s not how America should be run.
This is not the free market—it’s a mutant form of crony capitalism where the government and a few giant corporations team up to fleece the American citizens. Our government has essentially created a proverbial Frankenstein’s Monster and turned it loose on us, and we need to kill it now before it destroys our country.
To see this principle in action, you don’t have to look far.
We’ve all seen certain mega companies receive special tax advantages that others don’t get, exemptions to burdensome and costly regulations, and even special legal protections. These all provide massive benefits, creating an unfair and monopolistic advantage to the already dominant companies. Or you could even look at the discriminatory hiring practices where men, especially if they happen to be white or Asian, are specifically excluded from a majority of jobs today. And remember that while this particular detail has been called a conspiracy theory for years by most on the left, plenty of evidence is now available proving that it exists, including emails, internal presentations, corporate websites, and even job postings. ESG is another example, where corporations use their might to force society into their worldview against the wishes of American citizens.
I’m torn on the underlying cause of this, and I often find myself going back and forth on two particular stances.
One is that the government has no idea what they’re doing, and the other is that they’re intentionally trying to destroy the traditional American way of life. Both are equally plausible and equally likely, but reality is probably a blend of both. A great example of this can be found in a recent Joe Rogan interview with Senator Bernie Sanders, where Sanders went off the rails when pressed for details. Instead of addressing the questions asked about economic policies, he stuttered, stammered, and quickly changed the subject every time. Another example is Zohran Mamdani’s recent primary win, which he achieved by campaigning on government-run grocery stores—an idea so economically bad that only a Democrat politician could propose it.
It’s also worth noting that small business owners are typically more impacted by these policies, which ripple out to every American. That, coupled with the fact that they also have their finger on the pulse of their local community, means they tend to have a better idea of what’s needed in their communities. Because of this, they tend to be more involved in local politics, which is often where the real impact occurs. More small businesses tends to result in a more effective and accountable local government, and often, the impact of that works its way to DC to influence national policy as well.
As we’ve drifted deeper into a growing crony capitalist hellscape, both our economy and opportunities for ordinary Americans have declined dramatically. Wages have been stagnant for decades, inflation has eroded the value of our dollar, and freedom has been stripped from all but a select few working against our interests behind the scenes. We need to get away from that.
The solution is simple, but it’s far from easy.
We need to elect local politicians who will ensure our government supports the small businesses that make our economy work for everyone instead of creating even more advantages for these giant corporations that are already a monopolistic force.
While we need to lower taxes for everyone, we especially need to lower taxes for small business owners because that creates an immediate ROI that propels growth. This also drives innovation, lowers costs, spurs investments, and creates a more valuable overall market that benefits everyone. It’s easily one of the highest impact moves a politician can make. At the same time, we also need to eliminate burdensome and costly bureaucracy that bogs businesses down in pointless regulations and stifles growth and opportunity. A recent example of this is the draconian BOI reporting regulations that our friend and author of The War on Small Business, Carol Roth, fought so hard to eliminate. Giant companies have armies of staff to help them comply with these absurd regulations, but small businesses do not and it puts them at a tremendous disadvantage.
Roth said, “Small business drives our economy. Not only do small businesses make up
99.9% of all business entities, but they also create the majority of new jobs. I expect that AI will accelerate the importance of small business in the economy. As large corporations adopt AI for cost savings and layoff employees, you will likely see more of those formerly-corporate employees moving into roles in small businesses or starting small businesses of their own. The best way the US can support these small companies is by getting out of their way. Deregulation to remove barriers and otherwise leveling the playing field is the perfect spark to allow small businesses to grow and the entire economy to benefit.”
But it’s not enough to just elect the right people. We also have to hold them accountable along the way to ensure they follow through on their campaign promises, and if they don’t, quickly and aggressively replace them with elected officials who will. This isn’t going to be easy or fast, so we need to be committed to this goal for the long term. Unlike elections that spin up every few years, this effort will require consistent daily effort over an extended timeline.
The bottom line is this—in addition to creating a stronger and more diverse economy that benefits everyone, supporting small business ultimately helps to put the power back into the hands of American citizens, which is exactly where it should be.
I think this is a mission we all need to get behind if we want to save America.
