SNIP
Jos,

You've bought the sales pitch developed by those who profit from "globalization" hook, line and sinker! And as I said earlier, you are in the majority, sadly, in that regard. But overwhelming numbers do not turn a marketing gimmick into a truth.

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>First of all there are large and obvious products like cars or computer parts or clothing that we all know where it is manufactured.

I don't expect that to continue too much longer though.
Who owns Saab and Volvo and Jaguar and Rolls Royce and Chrysler? Who would have guessed that the General Motors Pontiac Vibe model would be manufactured in a TOYOTA plant?
Sure, that's still in the states, but that is ONLY due to political pressure. Some day those companies' lobbyists will win their objective to extend open trade borders to automobiles too.
I aleady related to you how some thing here presently have "manufactured for companyX" on their labels where they once sported "Made in Canada". You can be sure that lobbyists are, even as I write, trying to extend this option to areas where the law presently mandates that the country of origin MUST be shown. Then where will we all be?

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>Secondly, ignorance is not a defence. If its really important to someone to only buy products made in their country of choice then its important enough to spend the time to investigate it.
There are two issues here, at least for me...
1) As I note above, that research is going to be much harder in the near future as it ALREADY IS FOR MANY GOODS THAT I BUY.
2) I honestly have no problem buying a product made in a foreign country. What I have a problem with is products that are made by sweat-shop labour in environmentally crappy situations and where THIS IS THE SOLE REASON THAT THE PRODUCT IS MADE THERE! I would have no trouble with globalization IF it meant that workers weren't being EXPLOITED and their environments destroyed for their future generations. It would be interesting to see accident records for these fctories and to see medical records for illnesses related to the improper handling of hazardous materials.
If, for instance, a factory that wished to relocate to China was only permitted to sell their good back HERE under the conditions that:
1) they apply the same work rules to workers there as are mandated here (hours, breaks, eating conditions, health, safety, equal opportunity, etc).
2) factories must be built to the same environmental specifications as they are here.
3) Wages must be paid directly to workers.
then I would rate globalization as doing what it is advertised to do. But they don't and they never will (well, in my lifetime).

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>Thirdly, your post doesnt address the fundamental issues raised in the outsourcing / offshore production debate. Consumers want high quality at low price and investors in companies like Wal-Mart want returns on their investments.

No, consumers do not want high quality at low prices AT ANY COST! If "consumers" had known (IF they had had any say in the first place) that the result of Walmart's decision to revert its BUY AMERICAN policy meant that tens of thousands of U.S. workers would lose their jobs and their factories would close permanently, I hazard that they'd have told Walmart to stuff it! That's no doubt why Walmart never did ask them. Though everyone then went around saying that 'customers demanded lower priced equal quality good'.

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>Fourth, this is not about communism vs. democracy. Its economics. We make stuff, they make stuff, we buy stuff, they buy stuff, we all make and buy stuff together <g>!

But Communism really is at the root of this problem, in two ways:
1) When Communism was alive and well in the west as well as the east, capitalist governments had reason to impose some 'braking' mechanisms on manufacturers to keep capitalism from working wholly as designed. Capitalism is largely based on EXPLOITATION and it was important, while Communism lived, to ensure that Communism was visibly more exploitative than was capitalism. In other words, while Communism was the competitor to Capitalism then capitalism NEEDED to do at least a little bit of catering to the people. That is now all OUT THE WINDOW and capitalism is doing as designed - running amok in constant search of maikng the cheapest product and selling it at the highest price.
2) Communism, most particularly in China, is tailor-made for maximizing exploitation. They have full CONTROL of EVERYTHING. A capitalist's dream, really - a workforce that cannot argue and will be told what to take as a wage and over a billion such workers available!

I think that Houston had a fine idea. The fact of the matter is that the consumer HAS NO VOTE and is fast losing any ability to even discern where any product originates, much less under what conditions it is made.

Jim