I think Baselinepunk and DetroitDad make the most important points here. We can scream all we want to about 'patriotism' and 'buy american', but corporations are now, and have been for years, running the world. Voting gets you very little in this world economy. Lobbying gets you whatever you want. A vote is worth pennies and lobbying is worth billions. Occasionally, there's a revolt, but not often enough to severely impact corporare agendas for more than a short time. With all due respect to PurpleHeart, 'patriotism', is an over used cliche, much like 'faith'. I'm not calling you out personally, I'm just saying that it's meaning is variable from one person to another. I can give you examples of my father's patriotism, mine and my friend's who've served in wars and protested against them. They're all different. I know because we've spent our lives trying to define it. Aside from the 'patriotism' issue, you make some important points.