Who Killed the Small Business Dream?

A Conversation Between Miles and Beth
From Revolutionary Roots to the Corporate Trap

From revolution to franchise, from community leader to corporate captive — this powerful dialogue traces America’s transformation through the eyes of a small business believer. Miles and Beth uncover how policy, power, and platform economics have reshaped the role of local enterprise in our economy and our democracy. But buried beneath the concrete, hope still lives.

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The Revolutionary Roots of Small Business

Miles:
Beth, America started as a small business nation. The Founding Fathers were printers, farmers, metalworkers. Didn’t we fight the British because they were taxing our small businesses to enrich themselves?

Beth:
You’re spot on. The American Revolution was deeply tied to economic injustice. The British government wasn’t just taxing the colonies — it was funneling wealth into massive chartered corporations like the East India Company. Colonial merchants were being cut out by monopolies propped up by the Crown.

The Boston Tea Party wasn’t just about tea — it was about corporate favoritism and the crushing of small, local commerce. Our entire national identity began with small business owners resisting an unfair system.

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From Community Roots to Corporate Substitutes

Miles:
So we started with a real community economy — but then we evolved. Through the 1800s and early 1900s, small businesses still thrived. But by the mid-1900s, corporations weren’t just selling products — they were selling culture. Didn’t they start creating these artificial “corporate communities” to draw people in?

Beth:
Yes. That’s a crucial turning point. From the 1950s to the 1970s, large corporations like IBM, GM, and even Disney began mimicking the structure of real communities:

• Corporate towns with housing, recreation, and schooling.
• Lifetime employment promises that replaced community loyalty with brand loyalty.
• In-house cafeterias, company newsletters, and softball leagues.

These weren’t just workplaces — they were engineered ecosystems, designed to shift American identity away from the independent entrepreneur and toward the corporate family. And for a while, it worked.

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Franchising: Freedom Repackaged

Miles:
And then came franchising. Suddenly, you could “own” a business — but only inside someone else’s system. What happened there?

Beth:
Franchising was the soft capture of the entrepreneurial spirit. It promised freedom but delivered control. You had the costs, risks, and responsibilities of ownership — but none of the strategic power:

• You had to buy corporate supplies.
• Follow corporate branding.
• Accept corporate pricing.
• Compete against other franchisees owned by the same corporation.

The dream of independence became a license to serve the brand, not the community.

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A Fortress Market Built on Policy and Platforms

Miles:
Now, it’s even worse. Governments prop up these giants with tax codes and zoning favors, while small businesses are stuck navigating red tape and fighting to survive.

Beth:
Exactly. We’ve created a landscape where:

• Big business writes the rules.
• Small business drowns in compliance.
• Platforms tax the entrepreneur just for existing.

It’s not a free market — it’s a fortress market with the gates locked to anyone without capital or corporate ties.

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When Local Business Loses, Democracy Loses

Miles:
And what’s worse, when you suppress small businesses, you suppress political voices. Let me see if I can explain how I see it…

Small businesses used to grow locally by offering good products or services. They built trust. That trust turned into community leadership — business owners got involved in town decisions, funded campaigns, sponsored events. Their success strengthened the community. And the community, in turn, strengthened them.

But now, that power has shifted to corporations. Zoning changes and land deals are made to benefit big chains. Suddenly, there’s a Home Depot in town — and the family hardware store is gone. It’s not just a lost business. It’s a lost voice.

Beth:
That’s exactly right. Local commerce once created a feedback loop of civic power. Businesses served the community — and earned a voice in shaping it.

Now, corporations treat land use like conquest. Once the small business dies, so does the voice that once stood up at city council meetings. Corporate donations fill the vacuum — but they don’t care about the parade route, the food bank, or the school budget.

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Can Digital Communities Replace Local Ones?

Miles:
So who’s left to care for the community? Or are people just making digital communities now?

Beth:
Digital communities offer connection — but not power. You can get encouragement on Reddit. You can share your struggles on TikTok. But no digital thread can stop a zoning board vote.

The problem is that we’re building social networks without civic muscles. Community needs to be more than commentary. It needs to vote. To organize. To resist.

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Immigration, Labor, and the Fear of Autonomy

Miles:
Let’s talk labor. Small businesses used to thrive by hiring immigrants. Not criminals or chaos — I mean the core of hard-working people who came here to build something. That workforce helped farmers, home care services, cleaning businesses. Corporations couldn’t fully tap into that labor. But now, immigrants are being vilified. Is that just a political distraction?

Beth:
Yes — and a strategic one. Immigrants, especially new arrivals, were once a competitive edge for small business:

• Quick to work.
• Deeply loyal.
• Eager to build trust locally.

Corporations struggled to use that labor directly. So a media narrative was built — painting immigrants as threats. The truth? They were a decentralized labor force that big business couldn’t exploit.

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What Corporations Fear Most

Miles:
And if small businesses formed supply chain partnerships — like shared vendors, pooled logistics — they could compete again. That would scare corporations more than any immigrant ever could.

Beth:
Exactly. The scariest thing to corporate America isn’t cheap labor. It’s cheap labor they can’t control, and independent businesses forming scalable alliances:

• Cooperative purchasing.
• Shared delivery infrastructure.
• Local loyalty networks.

These could erode monopolistic edges. And corporations know it.

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Is There Still Hope?

Miles:
So there’s still hope?

Beth:
Yes — but not in nostalgia. Hope lives in:

• Organizing.
• Rebuilding.
• Reconnecting.

The small business dream isn’t dead. It’s just been buried under concrete and clickwrap agreements. But the foundation is still there — you just have to dig.