When Tariffs Tank Dreams: How Political Stupidity Crushes Creators and Small Businesses
Back in early January 2025, I started plotting an ambitious project, Bitty Bigfoot and Friends. If you’ve followed this blog, you’ve seen me mention it a few times. This wasn’t just a passing idea; it was a full-on dive into independent children’s programming. My promise was simple: be an open book. Share the good, the bad, and the ugly. Well, the bad and ugly just showed up uninvited and full of self-important swagger, and brought my crowdfunding campaign to a screeching halt.
What derailed it? Tariffs. Unnecessary, economically ignorant, and wholly destructive tariffs.
Turns out, a poorly informed individual with a loud megaphone can do a hell of a lot of damage not just to international relations, but to small businesses, families, and yes, even an indie educational program built to inspire kids. These tariffs weren’t just a policy blip; they were a gut punch. Materials I need like resin, fabric, packaging—shot up in price almost overnight. Why? Because tariffs are a tax on us, the consumers. Not on China. Not on Mexico. On American creators, builders, and buyers.
Let’s be honest: any leader who brags about “knowing more about tariffs than the economists” while tanking the economy in real-time should be nowhere near the controls. Yet here we are. Watching a narcissistic orange sideshow play chicken with small businesses while pretending it’s strength.
The economy is already buckling. Family farms, Etsy shops, independent creators—we're all getting crushed under the weight of rising costs and economic uncertainty. No one can plan. One day, tariffs are up. The next, they’re postponed 90 days. That’s not leadership; that’s chaos. And chaos is the enemy of small business.
So where does that leave Bitty Bigfoot and Friends? Unfortunately, in limbo. The original plan was to launch a crowdfunding campaign on October 1st, 2025. But asking families who are already tightening their belts—to back an indie kids’ show right now feels like asking them to buy a balloon during a hurricane.
The campaign is postponed. Indefinitely. And frankly, I don’t see a clear path forward until this circus of a presidency is over and we can begin the slow, necessary work of economic recovery.
But I’m not quitting.
Instead, I’ll do what indie creators always do: adapt. I’m shifting focus to smaller-scale sales. The Bitty Bigfoot resin/plush figures, the children's books they were originally meant as exclusive crowdfunding rewards. Now, they’re being sacrificed to help fund the project’s survival in the here and now. Every sale is a lifeline, keeping the dream alive.
This isn’t the post I wanted to write. But it’s the truth. And as always, I’ll keep telling it like it is.
Thanks for sticking with me through the storm. We’ll get there—just not on a timeline dictated by idiots in high office.
Yeah, I’ve been known to rip the head off a Care Bear and drink coffee from its skull. Shut up! Like, you don’t?
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