Take them out of the equation, and the economy collapses. But that is exactly what's happening. The cards are stacked against small businesses in America today, and nowhere is it worse than in the state of California. 

Here, the rules are rigged to make it more difficult for small, independent contractors and independent businesspeople to survive, much less thrive. Excessive regulations invariably favor large companies because the cost of complying is far easier for a company with a billion dollars in annual revenue than it is for a company with a million dollars in annual revenue.

This obvious fact is well understood by corporate monopolists whose rollup and consolidation of industry after industry in America has only accelerated in recent years. This excerpt from a January report by S&P Global, sums up the trend: "In 91 of 157 primary industries, the five largest U.S. companies by revenue combine for at least 80% of total revenue."

The report goes on to explain how monopoly power is a double-edged sword. On one hand, "growing monopoly power stifles competition and productivity in the U.S. economy." The counterargument is that "very, very productive firms end up dominating the industry." From the perspective of the ordinary American worker, either as an employee of a monopolistic corporation, or as an independent proprietor trying to compete in markets getting swallowed up by the giants, both of these arguments are true, and both are bad news.