The virtues and tradeoffs of local sourcing. Short term propserity is not one of them.

There are many values in life beyond things that are counted by money and prosperity. Things like free time, peace of mind, rest, health, friends, hobbies and interests.

The economy of money is important, but it's not the whole story. It does seem like today's prosperity relies on international trade and ironically, President Trump, in the name of increasing economic prosperity, has thrown a monkey wrench into trade and the economy. We are likely experiencing higher prices and an economic downturn.

Local sourcing for manufacturing is a virtue in itself, but not likely to bring short term prosperity. Voters, who want results quickly, are likely to be disappointed.

Local sourcing is something that a lot of people, on the left, have talked about also; for instance local sourcing of food. Many folks complain about foods shipped from thousands of miles; such as the opposition to the "thousand mile salad." They want "locally produced," such as, supposedly, at places like the Bellingham Farmer's Market. Then they buy some coffee; not grown locally. Ironically the wide variety of fresh vegies in salads need to be sourced from far places when it isn't the growing season for fresh things locally. We could rely more on canned goods, I guess.

Problem is, we can't have it all. American people are somewhat spoiled.

Local, community values, time and money are all factors we have to balance each day. I think in terms of things being tradeoffs rather than zero sum games.