|
|
|
|
|
|
by imgabe
1426 days ago
|
|
|
> In 2020 a beloved Syrian cheese and dessert shop, owned by a refugee, was forcibly evicted because their land lord tripled their rent. The lot remains vacant to this day. Was this personally my fault for not buying enough cheese? Obviously every single instance of a restaurant closing is not going to be the same. Maybe the landlord hates Syrians. Maybe they're negotiating a deal where Starbucks will pay triple the rent for a 10 year NNN lease that will make more money even with the vacancy, maybe it's a money laundering front for the Russian mob, who knows? I'm sorry your favorite cheese shop closed and it was probably not personally your fault for not buying enough cheese. Maybe you just live in a town that does not have enough cheese loving people to support a cheese shop, or there are uniquely evil landlords who have a vendetta against immigrant hard-luck stories. Sometimes businesses we like close. It happens. |
|
|
Anyway, my point is that only focusing on the 'logic' and numbers misses the point. The myopic focus on short-term profits hurts the average person and their communities.
You asked in an earlier comment if we should "subsidize every business in existence that can't make the economics work on its own merits?" I am not necessarily saying that we should, but we ought to acknowledge that the economy is not a system based on merit. In addition to blatantly profiteering, many large companies have taken trillions from programs like PPP loans that were meant to protect jobs, and proceeded with layoffs or stock buybacks instead. That money not only comes from you and I, but it also affects our communities — people lose their jobs, and the record profit are shuffled away into tax havens.
Does the world _need_ a specialty cheese shop? No. But the larger collapse of small, locally owned businesses since 2020 is a worrying trend.