I don't make retractable awnings. China makes retractable awnings. I would expect the average cheap awning to last 3 to 5 years on the high end. A quality awning will last more, and you'll pay more. A permanent awning like on a business will be thousands of dollars, depending on size. Per window. I'm talking about custom work, not off the shelf.
I can tell you that I would not take on any anlwning jobs. I'm quite busy enough without the hassle of drilling into brick or dealing with rotten headers or any of that crap. I'd guess $1000/window would be a starting price. How many windows do you have? Do you want to recover the awnings every 7-10 years and take them up and down twice a year? Or buy an air conditioner now and again. That's why the awning trade has died. Except for automatic ones that come in a box.
I couched my comment with the caveat that it was unsubstantiated and it then generated a lot of discussion. Your comment itself is unsubstantiated and really just makes you sound like a cob. Is money donated to a party theirs to use anyway they want? The answer appears to be kinda, maybe, but it depends.
I encourage everyone to try sewing, but it's not for everyone. The machine is a barrier to entry. Your home machine will not cut it. Or you may be able to struggle through but you'll suffer with thin thread that will dissolve in a season or two.
Canvas work is a trade with a wide skill set that not a lot of people possess. You can tack a sheet to your wall and put some posts under it but making something that looks nice, survives storms and lasts for years takes effort and skill.
Awnings are orders of magnitude more expensive than blinds, and blinds are expensive enough. There isn't an off the shelf design that will work for every house so you need to be able to customize them. Awnings tend to look shabby in 5 years and need regular maintenance to keep from being overrun by spiders.
We have a similar problem in Canada. Our "far left" is the NDP and they've run the same guy since 2017. He's not going to win, every election he's done worse. But there's no other candidates or something.