Since writing about “Supporting Live Entertainment” I have had some time to refine my ire. As Christmastime approaches, a lot of my friends are saying “Support Small (or Local) Businesses.” It’s more of the same thing! Stop it!
The whole concept is backwards
People are worried about individuals losing their small corporations due to big corporations driving them out. According to the capitalist system, big corporations are serving individuals better than small corporations; and that’s why individuals are paying them.
If we agree that the system is working, the best way to help individuals is to support big corporations because they’re serving the most individuals the best — almost a corporate socialism.
If we don’t agree that the system is working, we can work to change the laws and support individuals directly.
Small corporations are corporations too
Big corporations became that way by being small corporations that found a way to motivate profits and scale. This is usually done by serving a need of individuals.
Built in to this concept of “support small businesses” is often the idea that businesses are evil if they’re big. So we support the small ones, even though they might not be focused on serving a need. If we’re successful, we’ll turn a small business that sucks into a big business that sucks!
It’s up to businesses to support us
Businesses are not charities. They are meant to deliver things that individuals or other businesses value.
The killing local businesses way of thinking
Businesses get killed. As technology, society, and other stuff improves, the horse-cart business, the radio business, the music video production business all fall away. As retail becomes more automated, companies that don’t automate die. This is how it works.
Folks cry out “Amazon is killing the mom & pop bookstore.” And they’re right. If a mom & pop is operating on an old model that used to serve people and no longer serves them as well as Amazon, they will die. The same way movies killed Vaudeville.
The thing is, Amazon is not killing every mom & pop bookstore. There are bookstores that still serve their communities something special. Heck, there are still companies that build horse carts.
Bookstores can offer…
- a comforting environment
- a special shopping experience
- a community hub
- events
- connection
- a sensory experience
- education
- and much more that Amazon cannot offer at scale
Big companies are not afraid of small companies
Big companies look for profits. If they see a way a small company is making profits that they could make, they go for it. It’s not fear, or seeking destruction. It’s moral neutrality and capitalist pursuit (I’m not endorsing it as a great thing).
We can help small or local businesses
The real way to help a small or local business is to help that one business directly and specifically. If we think that a small business offers incredible value to individuals (not just the value of being small) we can educate and remind people about the value they provide. That’s great. That’s a way we serve individuals – by helping them find a helpful service.
We, as creators, can shed this way of thinking
The core of this whole thing is how I believe this “support” mindset hurts us as entertainment people.
- We are tasked with making things people want.
- We are not tasked with making things that are arbitrarily “creative”
- We don’t deserve money just because we’re making something
- We don’t deserve fans just because we’re small
We have ways of making stuff that nobody else and no other business can. We have the opportunity to be categories of one. We have the ability to change entertainment forever. The world has a headache that we can cure. There is something in the world that’s missing. We can see it and we can create it.
We’re powerful and our power inspires. Go. Serve.