Victor Davis Hanson | How COVID Lockdowns Killed Small Businesses

it's not hysterical to say that the kova 19 quarantine and mass national lockdown which we've never seen in american history despite our long experience with plague encouraged the destruction of the middle class in general and the middle class business person in particular and it championed or enhanced or empowered large corporations that were vertically integrated the amazons the targets the social media companies the zooms now how did that happen well think for a minute if you sold shoes and you were a small business you were shut down if you sold flowers you were shut down if you had a small restaurant you were shut down if you had a small business that repaired watches you were shut down if you sold phones you were often shut down and yet you could go into walmart you could go into target you could get something to eat fast food you could buy shoes you could buy socks you could buy anything and when you went into walmart or you went into target or you went into any of these large chain stores what did you see you saw hundreds of people congested in there it was very different than the experience of going in opening the door the little bell rang there might have been one or two customers you knew the small business person you could say the small have you been vaccinated have you had covet all of that interpersonal relationship that's so innate to small communities and small businesses but whether by intent or just accidentally or laxity we essentially said to the small business person you obey us and you're going to shut down your business and you have no power to object you have no capital you have no vertical integration you have no influence and then we said to the large corporation people during this lockdown will still need to have shoes they'll need to buy clothing they'll need to buy food they'll need to buy durable goods and appliances and we pick we select you to be the conveyor of that and you're exempt from the lockdown because we trust that you're large and you're efficient and you're wealthy and we've dealt with you in the past through political packs and donations and influence and so it doesn't take a conspiracy to see empirically that the middle class and the middle class business person suffered enormously under covet lockdowns and quarantines and large corporations got larger and more powerful and more dangerous [Music]

Channel: Hillsdale College

Views: 10,240

Keywords: hillsdale, constitution, liberty, freedom, free speech, lecture, america, victor davis hanson, small business, lockdowns, lockdown, regulation, control, enterprise, COVID

Id: -CucAwH3YQY

Length: 2min 44sec (164 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022