Total government ownership makes me nervous, considering the sort of
"leaders" who crawl out of the woodpile and run for office. I would
like to talk more about Richard D. Wolff's concept of Co-ops.
Carl Jarvis
On 5/3/20, Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
None of this would be a problem if all business (be it large or small) was
nationalized and owned and run entirely by the government.
Frank
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of
miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, May 2, 2020 9:05 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: Small Independent Business; an endangered
species?
The problem is that this plan, along with most others, is temporary. They're
going to help small businesses, (supposedly), until the danger from the
virus is past. But small businesses have been endangered for 50 years
because of changes in our laws that favor big corporations. Our whole
financial system, food production system, and the places where products are
produced, have been completely changed. Maybe some people didn't notice all
of this until the current crisis brought on by this pandemic, but if the
virus disappeared tomorrow, all the other problems would remain.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Carl Jarvis
Sent: Saturday, May 2, 2020 8:58 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Small Independent Business; an endangered
species?
In all the government's smoke and mirrors and passing of snake oil, little
is being done to protect the small, independent businesses.
Small business has long been the backbone of this nation. But in recent
times...especially the past 40 years, independent small businesses are
becoming an endangered species.
Here is an interesting article.
Carl Jarvis
The coronavirus has created a cash-flow crisis for small businesses across
the country. Many are at extreme risk of being gobbled up by massive,
monopolistic corporations. If we don’t act fast, one sad result of the
pandemic could be a future of gigantic corporate chains like Walgreens,
Appleby’s, and McDonald’s
-- and not much else.
Now, NBC reports: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and Rep. Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez, D-NY, are teaming up on a proposal....The 'Pandemic
Anti-Monopoly Act'
would impose a moratorium on mergers and acquisitions involving large
companies until the Federal Trade Commission 'determines that small
businesses, workers, and consumers are no longer under severe financial
distress.'"
Our communities are stronger because of the care, personal attention, and
millions of non-corporate jobs that small businesses provide.
Let’s not allow
the big corporations to exploit the coronavirus to take them from us.
Will you support Elizabeth Warren’s bill which protects small businesses
that want to come back stronger? Will you fight big corporations using the
pandemic to exploit them? Click to sign the petition.
Many small business owners are longtime members of the Progressive Change
Campaign Committee, and many have reached out to share their fears and
challenges as they struggle to keep employees on the payroll and fend off
big corporate chains.
A PCCC member who co-owns two independent pharmacies in Kansas says, "Even
before the coronavirus hit, there were offers from the big corporate chain
pharmacies to buy us out -- and they are always trying to lure away our
customers. I’m not that worried about our customers deciding to leave.
But I do worry that,
without protection, the coronavirus could force us to sell to the big
corporations due to temporary dips in our cash flow."
A PCCC member who is a dentist in Michigan writes, “I do not want to merge
or sell out to big corporations. The quality of dental work suffers and
ultimately it's not good for the patients.”
A PCCC member in Montana shares this: “I have an Art Gallery, I make wedding
gowns, and we have a hot air balloon company. All 3 of the businesses I
manage had to close but the bills keep coming. I have been volunteering to
make masks for first responders. The government has done nothing to help me
or self-employed people like me.”
And a PCCC member who owns a jewelry store in Indiana says, “If the
quarantine had been implemented earlier, our tourist town on Lake Michigan
would likely not have been forced to cancel our spring & summer events. I
own a small business & we may not make it through this.”
Across the country, there are everyday people like these who are struggling
to keep their small and independent businesses community-based. We all will
lose out if, as with so much else, this virus decimates small businesses,
leaving us with a future even more dictated by big corporations.
Sign the petition in support of Elizabeth Warren’s bill if you agree:
Congress must protect small businesses that want to come back stronger. We
must ensure the pandemic doesn’t mean they are forced to sell to giant
corporations.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- The PCCC Team