Go live in Brazil, that's your kind of country. The Obama-bots will be taxing you more and more to support what you call noncompetitive "domestic labor". Real nations with national pride like Korea do their best to keep all Koreans with decent jobs. Same in Japan. Germany does a good job at this too. You are far more suited to live in freaky Latino kleptocracies like Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil. You have that Latin padrone mentality where you want your laborers kissing your butt
Your analysis is largely based on past comparisons. The validity is not complete because it fails to consider the historical fact that the world, and especially the world of business, is in transition. There is change in process from when the USA was the only significant business force to where there are several significant players.
People want to leave their old poor lives and be like America. I think that the real problem that you and others here have is change. Toffler called it future shock, the inability to react to change. History is a long dynamic process. Clinging to a static past is to die while remaining alive.
I recently had my now 40 something Brazilian former exchange students come for a visit. They brought money, theirs and their friends. They were intent on shopping. They live in a country of Tariffs and therefore of very limited freedom. They spent most of their time buying stuff.
The fact it was American made or not didn’t make a difference. The main factor was it was available and inexpensive. The isolationist protectionist policies are the road to perdition, suited to an era that was.
Of the significant players, one is in serious trouble. That is Europe. They are really in trouble. Then there is the GCC. They are thriving and developing both a strong financial, distribution, and manufacturing base. They will use their resources to become the dominant petrochemical producers and dominant Aluminum producers. They are eroding European dominance in Africa by actively competing with the old line trading companies. They have built vibrant new cities that stand aside the east west trade lanes. They are capitalists and don’t restrict themselves with the shackles of tariffs.
To thrive, America must continue to do what we do best. The process of binding us with IMF like shackles is the certain way to harm. Again I say, buy Forbes, read it from cover to cover every issue, and the realization will come.