Corporations have basically eliminated the mom and pop stores. That's why you hear a lot of people say to "buy local" because it takes Corporate America out of the equation and puts money into the hands of the local guy. As far as franchises, they are not impossible to get into, but you need to either be very frugal and save for 5-10 years to get into one, or you need to be upper middle class or better. I don't favor extreme protectionism. I'm just pointing out that these huge corporations have enough money to be competitive and grow. They use that as the rallying cry around "low taxes" and get Joe Bubba to go along with it, thinking that he is trying to get his $125 a week in taxes lowered, which won't happen. If anyone gets a break, it will be Corp. Amer. If we had a level tax like some want, all those shiny jets and tanks and missiles would go the way of the dinosaur because once the wealthy started paying 10% like the rest of us, the funds to the coffers would go way down and it wouldn't really spur growth, though it probably would spur and investment bubble.