Small businesses are an endangered species.

Even though there is no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit in this country, we seem to be doing everything in our power to destroy this quintessentially American path to self-determination, innovation, and local economic resiliency.

Small business is still the lifeblood of our country, responsible for creating 2/3 of the jobs in our country, but that cannot last if we continue to ignore the hardships we impose on small businesses by denying resources to those that stand between a society made up of monolithic and socially corrupt corporate giants and super pacs on the one hand and lively, sustainable, resilient and unique cities and towns on the other hand.

Power always grows where our attention flows. Wall Street represents only about 1 percent of all the businesses in our country. So why does it get all the attention? One reason is that almost all the money invested in this country goes into the public markets, not the small businesses that are the backbone of this country.

Because Wall Street represents such a small portion of businesses in this country, we can’t keep using the health and stability of the public markets as a measure of how the real economy is fairing. People scratch their heads wondering about the disconnect between the news we hear about Wall Street and the economic realities in our communities that are falling further and further into decline.

What can be done?

The good news is that we have all the tools we need to transform our industries and communities into something that much more accurately reflects the will and values of our people. The first step is building a community of individuals who are ready to advocate and act on behalf of prosocial enterprise.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead.