Saturday, November 26, 2011

How many holidays?

Americans are funny. First we celebrate a holiday dedicated to gratitude. Then we empty ourselves of funds and sanity in a mess of madness called Black Friday. If that’s not enough, we exercise our exhausted credit cards once again for Cyber Monday. Saturday was feeling left out until the recent advent of its own holiday: Small Business Saturday. Although some may see it as just another excuse to spend, I support Small Business Saturday for two reasons.

1.       I appreciate alliteration.

2.       I believe entrepreneurship is the heart of our country.

Think: we just celebrated thanksgiving. Why did those Pilgrims come over here anyway? One reason was to create a community, a “New England.”  The gutsiest adventurers this country has seen set a precedent of entrepreneurship to be followed by Americans through the generations.

Not that I don’t see the caveats of the American Dream—greed, materialism, etc. What I do see is that most moms and pops are more concerned with paying the rent than clawing their way to wealth and fame. The majority of small business owners want to serve their community; the problem is that the community’s not serving them.

But small business affects more than just communities.  Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says “small businesses have played an important role in fueling past economic recoveries.”

If the government follows through with backing small businesses and consumers follow suit, the heart of our economy might become strong enough to pump enough blood to provide a much-needed economic turnaround.

4 comments:

  1. This is so true, I love you insightful stories.

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  2. I, too, appreciate alliteration, oh, and small businesses:) It's sad, but in my home town small businesses don't stand a chance. They're always coming soon, just opening, or going out of business. Perhaps, if we took a little more effort, we could make a big difference to some "moms and pops."

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  3. That is sad, Amber. And I agree, we should all put forth more effort to keep these people afloat. I hope to make a more conscious effort to do so going forward.

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