Commentary
This type of article is familiar, with journalists often criticizing the effects of commercialism on local communities. Despite my past indifference to such travelogues, I found myself reading this one in its entirety. Within the article, a notable statement stood out:
âThe slow eating of our city by mortadella [meat] shops began before COVID but accelerated when many of Bolognaâs independent businesses, cafes, and restaurants closed during the pandemic. The town’s center saw an influx of chain stores with a singular goal: catering to foreign tourists.â
While the article didn’t explicitly state it, any marketing expert could see the connection between mortadella and bologna, the American luncheon meat. International corporations capitalized on the town’s name to create a fake tradition for tourists, a move that, while cynical and dark, was unfortunately expected.
You know the type of article. Iâve ignored them for years, dismissing such travelogs as nothing more than the kvetching of the elite rich toward the common man and his desire to see the world. There is nothing more conventional than journalists yammering about the evils of âcommercialism.â
However, for whatever reason, I read this one in full. Buried in the article was the following:
âThe slow eating of our city by mortadella [meat] shops started before COVID but accelerated when, as in many cities, lots of Bolognaâs independent shops, cafes and restaurants went out of business during the pandemic. Many of those in the center of town were bought up by chains with deep pockets and a singular vision: to sell mortadella to foreigners.â
The article did not admit this, but any marketing person can immediately see the connection between mortadella and bologna; you guessed it, the American luncheon meat. Thatâs right, international corporations seized on the townâs name to invent a fake tradition to sell to tourists. Thatâs cynical, even dark, but entirely expected.
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The article continues.
âDowntown has changed completely. In the streets around the historic main square there used to be many old stationery shopsâa favorite sold fountain pens, inks in every color and all the hand-bound notebooks one could dream of. It had been there for as long as I can remember, but was recently turned into an âAncient cold cuts butcher.â Itâs part of a chain. Just across from it, in what I think used to be a jewelry store, is a second self-styled ancient butcher from the same chain. When I asked the shop assistant how ancient they were, she replied that they had been open for three months.â
Did you catch that passing mention of âwent out of business during the pandemic?â Yes, and, if you have been paying attention these last four years, you know precisely what that means. Itâs not about a severe flu. Itâs about the response to the flu, namely the brutal lockdowns that destroyed small businesses even as big businesses, all over the world, were allowed to function normally, provided the customers were masked up and vaccinated.
So any reader knows the score, even if the journalist buried the point. These small businesses were wrecked by the government. This happened not only in Bologna but worldwide. We have no firm numbers to put on this because they do not exist. But Iâm sure you have your own stories of your town. The local shops were destroyed. Stimulus could not save them. They finally gave up, crushing dreams all around. Itâs not just in the United States, not just in your hometown, but all over the world.
They were replaced by heavily capitalized multinationals that were in a position to weather the storm. This all happened in the course of a mere two years. We all felt it and saw it.
I recall getting a message from a friend who achieved his dream of making and marketing a charcoal toothpaste, working 18-hour days to develop supply chains. He had 150 employees, and life was good, with robust supply chains and a bright future. Then the lockdowns hit. Eighteen months later he had to notify everyone that the company would go bankrupt and that everyone would lose their jobs. The end.
He cried deeply and has never recovered from the devastation. Iâve cried for him too but millions are in his position. The lockdowns transformed life for billions of people globally, shattering dreams, wrecking businesses with long traditions, destroying intellectual and physical capital, transforming small towns with organic structures of enterprise into hubs for multinational sellers of junk.
This story is shocking and overwhelming, but largely unreported. The policy response to the pandemic might as well have been concocted by big business and big banks to crush their competition forever, for that is exactly what happened. Itâs a stretch to say that this was the intention, but I fully understand those who say that this was the plot all along. Thatâs a normal and natural response, to believe that this was all by intention.
In the weeks following the pandemic policy response, and the lockdowns, the World Economic Forum released a book called âThe Great Reset.â It was about how the COVID crisis would and should be deployed to usher out one form of enterprise and invite a new form in. We should release our attachments to the physical world and property and instead embrace the digital world, green energy (wind and solar power), and the subscription model of profitability.
Whether this blueprint was an inspiration or merely an opportunistic reflection of what was happening is not known, but there was no question that something huge was taking place, the replacement of one form of commerce with another. We see it today all around us, from our hometowns to global trade flows. The old world is being swept away not by choice but by force. The situation in Bologna is typical of what has happened worldwide.
Will it work? Not over the long term. There is a certain kind of coercive utopian unleashed on the land who believes that the old limits are no more. Not even mortality should trouble us. We can abolish scarcity with the right form of central plan.
Nations around the world have been persuaded to experiment with a new system that is not socialism or communism, but rather a form of corporatism that benefits new elites over existing elites. The majority of us are left as mere bystanders in this unfolding scenario.
However, it seems that this “great reset” may not have a lasting future. Evidence of its impending failure is mounting, with governments burdened by inflation, bankruptcies, fiscal restraints, and increasing dissatisfaction among voters. Europe is already in a recession, and the United States is on the brink of acknowledging that it never fully recovered from the lockdowns. Even China, a key player in the great-reset economic plan, is encountering challenges such as bankruptcy, inflation, and debt.
The overarching theme is that human arrogance has once again led to detrimental consequences, causing immense suffering. Escaping this predicament will be equally painful. Amidst all this, we must not forget the plight of small businesses, which have borne the brunt of the crisis. Their struggles may go untold, but they deserve recognition for their invaluable contributions to society.
While efforts to eliminate tip taxation are a step in the right direction, more drastic measures are required to support small businesses, such as deregulation, budget cuts, and reducing legal barriers. Whether it’s a bustling city like Bologna or a quaint hometown, small merchants have been the backbone of our modern world and deserve better treatment.
The author’s opinions expressed in this article are their own and may not align with those of The Epoch Times.
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