You're right, WalMart is so evil. Can't believe all the button pushing jobs that have been lost because they buy products for China.
If only they would bite the dust, then American programmers and scientists and engineers could finally pursue careers in the manufacturing industry!
In fact, what's even worse than the Chinese are those ******* machines. Why, if we just got rid of, say, cars for example, there would be countless more jobs for carriage drivers!
Down with replacing menial labor! More meaningless repetetive jobs for Americans! Only revitalizing our button-pushing industry can secure our continued dominance in the global economy!
I couldn't have said that better myself.
Well said.
As for buying from overseas. Sure, why not? In certain areas there is simply no way for high waged Western workers to compete with lower-waged workers who have roughly equable productivity. If you protect such an uncompetitive industry with tarriffs or subsidies you are essentially adminstering a welfare scheme in all but name.
Such protection can make sense in certain "strategic" areas. It makes sense to have some internal food industry for instance, even if other countries can grow you the food cheaper. You can make a case for your own defence industries in the same way. But - assuming that the playing field is flat in other respects - non-strategic industries simply have to compete, not ask for handouts. The laws of the Market have never been repealed.