Freedom and the Greatness of Small Business

The word “great” has many meanings. It could mean large in size, number, or extent; of major significance; remarkable or out of the ordinary; or it could be used to describe a person who has achieved unparalleled distinction and honor in a specific field. It is a term so commonly used that its power has been diminished and its meaning, jaded. This is why I hesitate to use it to describe something as immensely powerful, as enormously influential, and as empyreal as American Small Business.
If you have ever read the essay “I, Pencil” by Leonard E. Read, then you already know the miracles uninhibited creativity can bring. What Mr. Read is describing is the organizational power of free men which drives our technological world. One can scarcely open his eyes without fixing them on something brought to you by small business. Your carpets and ceiling tiles, your door hinges and the oil to quiet them, and even that little piece of plastic on the end of your shoe lace – all brought to you, in some way, through the industriousness of small business.
In a multitude of time and through a multitude of ways, small business has made your life better, and in some instances, possible. Even the big businesses we see every day could not function if not supported by small businesses; indeed, most of them were small businesses at one time. Have you ever heard of Walton's five and dime? I'll bet you have; we call it Wal-Mart now. Do you think General Electric started off as a giant, multinational company? Of course not.
Small business is big. As of 2005, there were roughly 25.8 million businesses in the U.S. while only 17,000 of those can be considered big businesses. Small business employs half of all private sector employees and produces 13 to 14 times as many patents per employee than large companies. Productive is a good word to describe them. Essential is another.
The driving force behind small business is freedom. Without it, creativity loses its potency and all that we take for granted begins to fade. How do you squelch creative force? How do you stop the production lines? How do you remove our freedom? You tax it.
Obama told us in the campaign that he would cut taxes for 95% of families and small businesses. However, he has also said that he would do nothing while President Bush's tax relief expires. Now, I'm no mathematician, but when I pay a higher percentage of my income to the government in the form of taxes, I call that a tax increase! We simply cannot let that happen. There is too much at stake. Our economy is driven by small business and small business is driven by freedom.
It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.” How right he was. I am not complaining about the money, I can always go make more money. I am complaining about government intrusions upon my liberty. It is my intention to stand up and fight; not only to keep the liberty we have now, but to take back that which we have lost.
Patrick Henry said it best when he spoke these words; "If we wish to be free, if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending, if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained - we must fight!"
Indeed Mr. Henry, you did - and we shall!