History category: The Collapse of America
Ken wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 1:25 am
temporal1 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 01, 2021 12:14 am
“35% OF ILLINOIS’ SMALL BUSINESSES ARE CLOSED A YEAR INTO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS”
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/35-of-il ... trictions/
More small businesses have closed in Illinois than in any other Midwestern state, except Michigan.
Taxing them more as they struggle is the wrong move.
It’s been one year since state-mandated COVID-19 mitigation protocols took effect across the state.
Now, a year later, many of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mandates remain in place, nearly 500,000 Illinoisans are out of work,
Illinois posts the highest unemployment rate in the Midwest and more than 35% of small businesses are closed.
The toll that COVID-19 and state-mandated lockdowns have taken on the economy have been severe, and perhaps no one has felt this pain more than small businesses.
Today, 35% of small businesses are closed compared to before the pandemic, more than any other Midwestern state except Michigan. Illinois’ massive decline in the number of small businesses is eighth worst in the nation. ..
The text continues .. there is a map of the 50 states.
Even by 2020, Illinois had not recovered from the 2008 bank failures.
Things are not “looking good,” not vibrant, to anyone driving around.
This evening i was chatting with my Seattle area family, they were stopping in for cupcakes at a local shop - they’d stopped last week. CLOSED+SHUTTERED. No notice.
i empathized and said i’ve experienced YEARS of this locally. established businesses+shops i never expected to outlive.
Regarding families,
morale is down in young people. Increasing over years, not a recent phenomena.
Families are going from 1-2 children to 1 or none, often replaced with dogs+cats.
RZehr:
.. this nation is writing its own obituary.
Yes, Covid is bad. There are 195 other countries in the world. All of them dealing with Covid in various different ways.
Which do you think are doing a better job then? And why?
RZehr’s OP is thoughtful and inquiring.
At least in the early responses, attempt to respond to his inquiry seems reasonable.
He is inquiring about matters he finds troubling. Fair enough? i think so.
(At times, Robert has requested an attempt to respect OPs “in the first pages” before trailing off.)
You may not have noticed.
RZehr voiced frustration. Ignored right away. So, Bunny Trails.
(For myself) RZ is not asking for general discussion of the pandemic - well covered in other threads.
You seem to suggest here that a country only “collapses” or fails, IF OTHER COUNTRIES ARE DOING WORSE.
That seems a skewed premise (to me).
i do not see failure as a “pecking order” situation. nor do i see pecking orders as pertinent to the topic.
As i’ve read, and continue to read histories of failed countries, i don’t notice emphasis/comparison with other countries if the day. Ancient Rome. Ancient Egypt. The Mayans, etc. They failed being what they once were, were replaced with something different, or altogether lost.
Sometimes societies decay, sometimes they are violently overthrown, etc. Sometimes invaders just walk in and dominate. Sometimes natural disasters are involved. But, countries don’t escape failure because “others are doing worse.”
When thinking of our sins, are we to look at others and determine, “o. look. his sins are worse, so i’m ok.”
i don’t believe it.
If i had such questions, i would refer to Honduras Keiser. i recommend this.
Your ending questions relay an appearance of an attempt to commandeer, or troll, the topic.
i’m not OP, mod or admin.
just sharing how this response appears to me. it’s why i won’t reply in the thread.
this is not your classroom. i am not your student.
