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The alternative is to continue to buy a lot of stuff from China that many of us only buy because it is so cheap - regardless of whether we really need it. Capitalism is a great thing, but consumption in and of itself is not a value.

The question of which purchases are a value to each consumer is a matter of individual choice based upon competing considerations (e.g.- Do I really need this? What are the alternatives? What is the quality of the item and how long will it last?). If more goods were produced by Americans in America, they would almost certainly cost more - but they'd likely be of better quality and we'd have more producers as well as (employed) consumers to buy them, and more domestic revenue in place of debt.

It is not an "either-or" proposition, though. There are many things that it simply makes sense to produce abroad (including China), and for a variety of economic reasons not limited to lower labor costs - supply chain management and natural resource location, for example. My point is that we are losing out on domestic production opportunities not for good business reasons but for essentially political ones.

There is also a moral issue involved in supporting Chinese state industries that use slave labor and force workers to function in truly awful working conditions, while polluting their environment along the way. I believe the decision to buy Chinese goods ought to be a personal one, and not one dictated by government, period. But I also think it would be a good thing if more Americans knew the hidden "costs" associated with their desire for cheap consumer goods.