Episode 111: How Small Business Rhetoric Is Used to Protect Corporate America
\u201cObama lauds small business owners in his State of the Union,\u201d announced The Washington Post. \u201cI have always said that there is nothing more optimistic \u2013 perhaps maybe getting married \u2013 than starting a small business,\u201d Speaker Nancy Pelosi tells us. \u201cJohn Kerry would raise taxes on 900,000 small businesses,\u201d insisted a reelection ad for George W. Bush.
Everywhere we turn we are centering the needs of and reminded of the glowing status of the \u201csmall business.\u201d They are the bipartisan holiest of holies in our economy \u2013 the scrappy little guy that also props up the moral pillars of capitalism \u2013 evidence that with a little elbow grease and knowhow anyone can build a business in their image. Small businesses are one of two major vehicles for COVID-19 relief \u2013 a wholly uncontroversial good that both parties, all ideologies, everyone!, can agree are worth protecting and prioritizing.
But what do pundits and politicians mean exactly when they say \u201csmall business\u201d? How does our romantic vision of \u201csmall business\u201d match up with reality, and how is their plight used as a messaging vanguard to strip away environmental and labor regulations, tort protections, taxes and a host of safeguards against corporate greed?
The rhetoric forces the evocation of a wholesome image of a Mom-and-Pop candy store in Appleton, Wisconsin, in order to push for laws that will ultimately benefit hedge funds, Dupont and Koch Industries, and a murderers row of polluters and worker abusers.
Our guests are Public Citizen's Lisa Gilbert and Street Fight Radio's Bryan Quinby.