What do brick and mortar businesses do when the supply chain of money comes to a halt? Effectively it turns into a ghost town economy. No peeps, no money, no products, no services.
There’s an old Mike Tyson boxing axiom “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” Well folks, we’ve been punched in the mouth. What shall we do? Business as usual? Sit back and wait it out? Can’t do the former. Shouldn’t do the latter.
The government believes the way forward is to keep the money supply chain running. Send out gov’t checks so we can continue paying bills. The only winners then become the banks.
What if we were to have a bill paying moratorium? Say for 3 months. No mortgages. No electric or water bills. No credit card bills. (But also, no credit card purchases.) What would it free us up to do? It would free us up to isolate and heal. It would free us up to help one another in thoughtful, meaningful ways. It would free us up to innovate. It’s a big idea and one that only the federal government can pull off.
But since that’s not likely to happen what can we do for our brick and mortar brethren? How about this — Let’s get everyone to adopt one brick and mortar business. Then offer them help as safely as is possible. A little money, paint, food, sweat equity – even a shoulder to cry on. Maybe, even just some new ideas.
Isolation is great for pandemic, but it’s not the best way to innovate out of a crisis. Let’s help one another, but be safe doing it. It will free up many of the burdens of this illness. But we must do it safely.
Peace.
