Ron Paul Liberty Report - Weekly Update --- Government, Not Coronavirus, Is Killing Small Businesses
Aired: 2020-12-22
Duration: 04:10


=== Government Tyranny on Small Businesses (04:07) ===

[00:00:03]  Hello everyone and thank you for tuning in to the weekly report.
[00:00:07]  Government, not coronavirus is killing small businesses.
[00:00:12]  A video of a confrontation between Ventura County, California health officials and restaurant owner Anton Van Happen has gone viral.
[00:00:22]  The health officials were ordering Mr. Van Happen to close his business because he allegedly violated California's ban on outdoor dining.
[00:00:33]  Mr. Van Hatten asked the health officials if the government will pay his employees and his rent while his business is indefinitely closed.
[00:00:43]  Mr. Van Happen is hardly the only small business owner worried about how to pay bills during the lockdowns.
[00:00:51]  Many small businesses operate on a narrow profit margin, so being forced to temporarily shut down or limit the number of customers they can serve is a virtual death sentence.
[00:01:04]  The lockdowns have already caused as many as 200,000 small businesses to permanently close.
[00:01:12]  Lockdowns, by shrinking the number of employers, lead to long-term unemployment of lower wages for many workers.
[00:01:21]  While governments have terrorized small businesses, they have typically deemed the big change stores essential businesses so they can remain open.
[00:01:31]  The lockdowns are thus another government policy that gives big businesses a competitive advantage over their smaller competitors.
[00:01:41]  The benefits big businesses get from the lockdowns, including fewer competitors, more customers, and a job market with more workers competing for fewer jobs, they explain why many big businesses are not fighting the lockdowns.
[00:01:59]  Instead, most big retail chains are requiring their workers and customers to wear masks.
[00:02:07]  Many big businesses may soon deny services to those who refuse to receive a COVID vaccine.
[00:02:16]  One would think that progressives who claim to oppose policies that benefit big corporations like Walmart, Target, and Amazon would oppose the lockdowns.
[00:02:27]  Sadly, even many progressives are unquestionably parroting the COVID propaganda and demonizing those who dissent.
[00:02:37]  By slowing down the development of herd immunity among the population, the lockdowns could put those truly at risk in greater danger.
[00:02:49]  Lockdowns have also had negative effects such as increases in drug and alcohol abuse and increases in domestic violence.
[00:02:58]  Meanwhile, many school children are deprived of the opportunity to interact with their teachers and their peers.
[00:03:06]  Instead, these children are subjected to the fraud of virtual learning.
[00:03:11]  Resistance to COVID tyranny is growing as more people figure out that lockdowns and mandates are both unnecessary and harmful.
[00:03:22]  This resistance was largely started by small business owners faced with a choice between obeying the government or making sure they and their employees can feed their families.
[00:03:35]  Small business owners have been leaders in recent anti-lockdown protests across America.
[00:03:42]  Eventually, the resistance will grow to the point where the politicians will be forced to either double down on authoritarianism or admit the lockdowns were a mistake.
[00:03:54]  Either way, those of us who know the truth must resist the COVID tyranny until government officials no longer terrorize small businesses for the crime of serving willing customers.