[DungeonMaster]

Well a company's only loyalty lies with maximizing profit for their stockholders. Reducing personnel costs is one way to do that. American workers must compete for jobs/wages with the rest of the world. Is that not economic freedom? The only problem is that the global economy is destroying the social structure (the middle class) that made America great. Which leads to the question: can America unplug from the global economy, and if so, is it even desirable to do so?

Good post but you lost me with one bit. How is the global economy destroying the social structure? I see that as a faith issue which tends to be inversely proportional to wealth.

[buckalfa]

"How is the global economy destroying the social structure?"

My thinking (as misguided as it may be) is that as wages are depressed and job opportunities become scarcer due to global competition, more and more Americans will become dependent on the government to survive. Hope and work ethic disappear. Society declines. Wealth is transferred to the Third World. Yes workers can retrain and gain more education for skills in demand. Technology may open new avenues to generate wealth. My problem is that I am stuck in the world with an Ozzie and Harriet mindset. I cannot imagine an America without a strong, traditional middle class.