So now, the remaining choice, where a choice IS possible, is does a working man pay more for a "made in the USA" product, or save significant $$$ by buying what is likely a better foreign built product, and keeping the change for other family needs instead of adding to some wealthy CEO's quarterly bonus?
It is a tough decision to make sometimes, and in the case of TVs and other electronics there may very well be NO viable American option. However there are still some products made here, if we all vote with our pocketbooks and buy American maybe MORE product will be built here.
All of us in the "Buy American" camp have struggled with these choices. Is a Daimler Chrysler mini-van more American than a Honda Odyssey that is built in Alabama? Do your dollars benefit America more when the profit goes to a German company, or a Japanese one? On some products it may be a coin flip, but even if you buy a foreign car you can still help Americans by buying something that is built / assembled here. Once that car is in service, you can vote with your pocketbook again by buying American-made tires (Cooper, for instance), oil, accessories, etc.
The working man who is barely eking out an existence may not have the luxury of taking a philosophical stand, but a significant percentage of Americans do. Where we suffer a breakdown is in the exact same place that our leadership does - we are increasingly unable to distinguish between tactical and strategic goals.
When we make a decision based on our finances TODAY, we are working in the tactical environment - doing what we can to accomplish our immediate goals. However, tactical planning can be absolutely worthless if we aren't keeping an eye on the long term consequences of our actions. For the long term, we should plan strategically to position ourselves for maximum advantage - and if we do, our daily economic tactics may need to be altered to achieve our long-term goals. If we want to be comfortable in retirement, for example, we should have a long-term strategy of saving money. That strategy is often incompatible with impulse buying, so our shopping tactics must be adapted.
As a people, we should be "voting with our dollars" to reward our allies and punish those who oppose us in any sense (militarily, economically, culturally). We may have to give in to tactical necessity and buy Maw that new plasma-display toaster that she has been wanting, but we may be able to make a good choice even if an American-made variant is not available. Is it better to pump those dollars into the economy of Communist China, Taiwan, Japan, or Ireland (where an increasing amount of high-tech gear is being built nowadays)? The product from China may be a few $$$ cheaper at Wal-Mart, but Japan, Taiwan, and Ireland have no professed desire to crush the United States. Hmmmm, what to do - what to do... .
It is up to the
American people to look out for the long-term interests of our nation, because
nobody else cares whether the nation exists for the long haul. The free market doesn't care whether our nation prospers or not. In a very real sense nationalistic concerns are viewed by leadership and big business as just an impediment to free trade - we the people are simply consumers and producers, citizenship being an arbitrary construct that could impact profit. Businesses will always act to maximize profit, and if the American public will keep buying their products even if they ship the jobs and manufacturing overseas, they WILL do so to make a buck. Our government leaders are in the hip pockets of big business, and as a consequence many of their decisions and policies are based on maximizing trade opportunities instead of focusing on the long-term security and economic viability of the populace. We are stupid enough as a voting public that we let them get away with it, too.
This disregard for the well-being of our nation is evident in every aspect of our governmental and economic life, as our leaders focus on the tactical picture (make money
today, appease the voters with a handout
today) and ignore the strategic implications. Big Movie/TV/music types don't care whether their product contributes to the decay of the American family or not - they just want to sell product and make a buck. It is up to the individual American citizen to make wise choices for their family -
nobody else cares.
The agriculture and construction industries don't care whether the massive influx of illegals costs the rest of us a fortune and changes the cultural landscape of our nation - they just want somebody to work cheap picking fruit and building houses so they can make a buck. Similarly President Bush and the rest of our politicos don't care whether leaving the border open causes long-term problems or not - the influx produces more votes and windfall profits for those who illegally employ the illegals. It is up to individual American citizens to discourage these practices with their pocketbook, if they want their nation and culture to endure -
nobody else cares.
Uncle Sam happily gives foreigners equal access to American markets with free-trade agreements like NAFTA, and subsidizes countries like China with "most favored nation" trading status - but does little to prop up failing industry here at home. Many of our leaders don't care whether high-tech machining or steel mills or goat farms are viable industries in the USA for the long haul, in their view it is the availability of the PRODUCT that counts, not the CAPABILITY TO PRODUCE it. Accordingly when we buy foreign product, we are paying to train THEIR sons and daughters in high-tech engineering, manufacturing, design. For the long haul it might be desirable to have those skills fostered here in AMERICA, but the free market doesn't care whether the world's best machinist lives in Boise or Shanghai. It is up to the individual American citizen to vote with their pocketbook to encourage high-tech industry here in the USA -
nobody else cares.
It will be a terrible shame if we let America transition into another 3rd world Bananastan over the long haul, simply because we were too fixated on the tactics of today to think about the implications for tomorrow. It will make one heck of a tombstone though:
HERE LIES THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC
1776 - 2076
It's death was not in vain, for we made a few bucks along the way. 
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
I just said I heard it. Check it out here:
