[307startup]

Patriotism is for fools. To believe that a country and a government can do no wrong only works if you have too much fat in your head. The flag is a symbol of our being united as a country...a nation of individuals choosing a common ground for the common good. It's bad enough that China gobbles up our federal debt on the free market. You realize that's how we can maintain our government with a MASSIVE deficit don't you? Those notes are not stashed in some bunker at Fort Knox...they are sold to the highest bidder. It doesn't bother you that a sworn enemy of the US can bend our political will by simply threatening to call our debts? And you want to give them your trade dollars too? Icing on the cake. I hope it tastes good while it lasts. We're on the verge of another depression...one that'll make the 30's look like the 90's. And just so you understand...capitalism and free trade don't exist in China. There is no such thing. The Chinese are not the old USSR. They have existed as a people...a UNITED people (not necessarily peaceful, fighting amongst themselves for power, but always united) for over 5000 years. I'm not scared of China's military might. I'm scared of their political bent, their political will, their political wisdom. 2 billion people can't be wrong. Not when we have 330 million people willing to give them all the ammunition they need to win a war without firing a shot. The will of a nation is governed by the consent of the people. We consent to anything that makes us lazier and more complacent. Thus we have WalMart selling cheap goods to hacks like us. I try very hard to support American products...not as a patriot but as an American worker. Sometimes the price is high...I can overlook that. Sometimes the quality isn't there...I can overlook that. When the prices are high and the quality isn't present...I can't overlook that. I wonder how long you'll be able to enjoy your Chinese-made machine when your job and your childrens future are exported overseas. We can't exist as a nation of servants...service industry exists to serve those able to afford it. Someone who makes $9 an hour can't afford to pay someone else $10 an hour to do something else for them. This isn't about have or have-nots...this is about common sense. It takes a higher quality of life and a higher income to have "disposable income" to buy these cheap goods. Someday soon there will be no middle class in America...someday soon there will be no cheap goods from China, they will be expensive goods from China. Someday soon the cheap goods and labor will originate from America. You may have served our nation...but that doesn't mean you understand commerce, trade or history. Know history...avoid repeating mistakes of the past. This is just like the old spice trade...cutting throats and getting rich. Only it will be American life-blood that is spilt...by Americans who think that they are unable to make a difference alone, as an individual, and so join the anonymous mob as a faceless, nameless cell of a corrupt organism.