The principle of Occam's razor wins. The simplest argument is usually the most logical. Brilliant response.

What is America good at now? That realm is shrinking. We used to be great at innovating new technology, producing cars, airplanes, and other consumer products. That isn't the case anymore. All that stuff is getting produced overseas.

We need skilled blue-collar labor here, because everybody is not suited for a highly-skilled job that requires a college degree that costs $100,000 to acquire. Not everyone possesses the skill or desire to be a financial investor who relies on stock market speculation to make money. There needs to be balance and diversity in the job market for people of all skill and educational levels for the market to sustain itself. Otherwise you're creating a dependent welfare class of unskilled workers that relies on a small class of super-elite wealthy for tax money, while effectively wiping out the employed middle class. Well, I guess another option is that you can open a liquor store or Mexican restaurant, provided you can raise the capital for it. Oh wait, I can't because I can't get a decent job that pays beyond subsistence wage without having a college degree. Then I might earn $15 an hour if I'm lucky and have tens of thousands of dollars in debt.

It's a no-win situation for a displaced factory worker, and it's a total win for the guy with majority share in a large multinational conglomerate.

"You think an American has a hard time losing their job? Let's see, they can collect unemployment, welfare, and housing assistance."

Now the question is, do you necessarily want them collecting those things instead of working for a living? Where does the money for these benefits come from? The rich get taxed for these benefits. So the increased profits reaped from outsourcing end up coming back to bite them in the rear, because the government will demand more money from them to finance the swelling demand for benefits like unemployment, etc. Outsourcing jobs is essentially a zero-sum game.

Might as well save the hassle and keep the jobs here. It's individual people who have to learn not to cry when their iPod costs $120 instead of $100. You don't need an iPod to live.