>Yes the consumer has a very simple and powerful say. They can simply choose not to buy stuff made outside their country of choice. Wal-Mart is driven by the profit motive, sure, but ...

If at some point in the future you can walk into a Safeway, Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda, K-Mart, Rothe's ... and see an aisle clearly marked "Support Communism, Support Oppresion - made in China' and decked out with red flags, and another aisle decked out in red white and blue with large signs saying 'Support America, Support Freedom, Support Democracy'. Then yes consumer choice becomes a possibility.

On the other hand, when you are obliged to completely dismantle something, or wade through three levels of packaging to find the micro-dot that states 'Made in China'. Then no, consumers are just sheep to be herded.