Importing from the US usually completely kills your local economy or you're forced to subsidize it heavily to level it out or suffer from McD style economic imperialism invading your country at the expense of local businesses.
It only kills the local economy if the local economy doesn't export value equal to what they import. Trade is supposed to allow each locality to specialize in what they do best, what they do most efficiently.
The U.S. is obviously willing to be a customer base for exports, they just need to get off their duffs and make something we need. (I know, imperfectly, we protect agriculture and steel, among others.) On the other hand, countries like mainland China just want to export, not import, and that's a recipe that leads to the U.S. losing its wealth.
To MrMacMan:
Your view is more Politically based, anyway it isn't that communism has to be bundled with straight rules and harsh punishments, its just the way they do it there.
Well, I'll use your reply as a way of tying this back to the original subject. Is saying "its just the way they do it there" really in line with the Apple philosophy of "Making the world better, one person at a time"?
If we really think that a computer is a fundamentally powerful tool, then we should also think about who we are supporting when we buy our computers. Do these people use the money we give them to elevate the individual, or do they use it to help keep others suppressed lower than themselves?
While I may sometimes disagree with the politics of Apple Computer, or Taiwan, or the U.S. Government, I also know that supporting them also helps support a system and community that (sometimes imperfectly) protects everyone's liberties. That's part of the good karma you get when you buy an iMac - right now.
But if iMac's are made in a repressive state like mainland China, I know that a chunk of that money is going to people who go out of their way to crush liberties. Bad karma, in a major way.
Are we really so lazy as consumers that we toss aside fundamental abuses with "the guys that I'm paying for this, well, they're different, so I'll buy that widget anyways"? I hope not, especially the Mac community.
EDIT: Grammar correction
