Be American, Buy Whatever the Fuck You Want

I realize supporting American business is important. The few companies that still have manufacturing bases in this country deserve our support for not exporting jobs across the globe. I understand this. I'm even a fan on protectionism, in the sense that workers abroad are abused and mistreated and paid extremely poorly for their services. But I digress.

Unfortunately for those that cheerlead the "Be American, Buy American" slogan and it's variants, the truth is they are being very un-American. To be American is to seek the highest quality at the best price, regardless of who made it. Capitalism rewards the best business person, not the country where the business is located. If a Japanese company makes a better car at a better prices, then capitalism rewards that company for being better than everyone else. And that Japanese company deserves all of the splendor of these capabilities. If Americans suck at making cars, then American companies that make cars deserve to suffer. 

Do the employees deserve to suffer? No. The people on the manufacturing lines, the people answering phones, the people designing cool logos and the lower level employees don't suffer. To borrow a phrase from military speak, all of those people are collateral damage of poor decisions made by the leaders of these companies. They are victims of the bad decisions made by people who thought SUVs were the future of the automotive industry even though, since the 1970s, many an economist and scientist have been in agreement that oil and energy prices were going to skyrocket and fuel efficiency was the key selling point. They are people just like me, in a sense, a low level employee working at a level necessary for a company to run, but in no place to make any sort of decisions. They went to work, they worked hard, they did their jobs and are now unemployed facing a reality they had never contemplated in their wildest dreams. I feel for those people.

But the truth of the matter is:  America is a free market (sort of), capitalist economy. Those that conduct business in the best way survive, be they foreign or domestic. And the company that offers the best value, the best price for the quality and still turns a profit, is the company that deserves to survive, whether it is based in America or based in some foreign land. That's how capitalism works. So, to truly be American, you really should buy whatever brand of stuff you want to buy. Of course, explaining your new Honda to your neighbor that just got laid off from the Chrysler engine block manufacturing plant might be difficult. 

Wait! Who the hell am I kidding? No one can afford to buy a fucking car.