Payback Time

Local businesses need us more than ever

By Cecily Hastings
April 2020

Publishing a monthly magazine isn’t optimal when information about the coronavirus changes hourly. So most of what you see this month in Inside Sacramento will ideally serve as a welcome and necessary contrast to media approaches that prize speed over accuracy and are intended to generate extreme emotions.

Here we love our neighborhoods because their scale is small. Our relationships tend to be more intimate than what a big city or rural community might offer.

Leopold Kohr, an Austrian economist and political scientist famed for his opposition to the “cult of bigness” in social organization, said, “Wherever something is wrong, something is too big.” When a virus from China spreads around the world in a matter of weeks, it’s easy to see the downside of globalism.

So let’s think small. “After all, quarantines and social distancing are all attempts to take systems that are too big and divide them into groups and sizes that we can handle. If you can’t stop an epidemic—your country, state, region, city, town, village, is definitely too big,” wrote Kohr, who died in 1994.

The lifeblood of our communities is found in our neighborhoods. They are filled with locally owned businesses and include shops, service providers and food establishments. Our national leaders must recognize that while global players in the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries are suffering huge losses, the little guy has it much worse. Many small businesses in Sacramento operate with low margins and high overheads. Their employees—wait staff, bartenders, cooks or anyone who depends on tips—are being laid off. They don’t have corporate reserves to fall back on

Please follow the medically recommended precautions as we navigate this crisis. But whenever possible, use your dollars to support a local business. Without our collective help, they will be history.

Many small restaurants were struggling even in the prosperous years after the Great Recession. If they are trying to survive by providing takeout food, purchase some every day—it’s a great way to help our neighbors stay open while avoiding crowds and staying safe. If you can buy gift cards to save for when times get better, buy them.

Our country has faced worse crises. Those of us who have lived long enough have perspective on our country’s ability to recover. The big question is whether we can muster the strength to fight back when the muscle-memories of sacrifice have atrophied in many of us.

I met a mother who recently drove a good distance to visit her young adult children. They refused to touch or hug her. She left after a short while because she was so saddened by their narcissism, drama and hysteria. Other reports show young folks violating rules and acting wildly irresponsible.

The mature among us must do our part to keep others calm and steady, even when they don’t always want to hear it. Avoid social media unless it uplifts your spirits and the hopes of others.

We have surplus time for ourselves now. Make sure to read broadly and carefully. Read history that shows our human resilience. Listen attentively to reliable sources. Look for ways to help people less fortunate. Go outside. Tip greater than normal. Don’t hoard. Be conservative in everything you use. But never stifle a generous impulse.

We must also repay good faith with good faith. When others disagree, make an effort to hear them out. We are in the midst of grave societal and economic challenges that will hopefully make partisan bickering trivial and ideological purity irrelevant.

Please support the fine establishments listed below. They are local businesses. Over the years they supported us with advertising, which helped pay the costs to bring you Inside Sacramento every month. Now they need us to step up and show how much we value them—not simply as businesses that provide wonderful service, but as our friends and neighbors who are hurting.

View the complete takeout guide HERE.

EVENT CANCELLATIONS

Please check with specific event organizations for the latest information on event cancellations. Many events support nonprofit organizations, so please consider a donation to help them stay afloat in desperate times.

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

As we went to print, Sacramento News & Review announced it was shutting down its weekly print operations. The paper’s ad revenue has always been highly dependent on food, drink and events. In addition, the biweekly magazine SubMerge, which covers local art, entertainment and nightlife, has suspended its print edition, citing lost advertising revenue due to business closures and event cancellations as a result of COVID-19.

Hopefully, SN&R and SubMerge will find a path forward. The more local news that’s available, the better for our community. But with the Bee’s bankruptcy, Sacramento readers should not take any local news source for granted, including Inside Sacramento.

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Cecily Hastings can be reached at publisher@insidesacramento.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram: @insidesacramento.com.