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People need to make stuff in order to sell stuff in order to have money to buy stuff. If folks don't make stuff, there's nothing to sell, hence, no money, and regardless of how cheap any item imported may be, folks won't be able to buy it.

Of course.

But you can't just make stuff that the Chinese can make cheaper. You just can't. That's life. You have to make stuff that the Chinese can't make at all. Like Intel P4 microprocessor designs, Windows Operating Systems, movies with Catherine Zeta-Jones, skycrapers in New York, whatever comes after the Boeing 747, California wine, L.A. Freeways ... We need more of all of these things. Let's get to work.

This is exactly the reason why the bleeding of american jobs needs to stop quickly. The more who go unemployed, the less americans there are who can afford to buy goods and services (regardless of whether they are made by americans or not) and this means that more companies will lay off because of reduced sales. Exporting jobs merely gives a short term profit, but further reduces the buying power of the american economy and depressing that economy more. And don't say that these layed off americans can all start their own business or retrain. Not everyone can start their own business and if they all tried, it wouldn't work because an economy of primarily small business owners will not generate the growth of capital needed over the period of time needed. In terms of retraining, that takes time, which prolongs the depressed economy. Besides, many of the older workers are being shut out simply because it is cheaper to hire younger, less experienced workers regardless of the level of training/retraining.

"People need to make stuff in order to sell stuff in order to have money to buy stuff"

I assume you mean physical goods as oppossed to just services. Ha s a nice ring but services count too. I have a machine built in the 60's retooled. We thru away tons of pnuematics, gears, and levers replacing them with a little PLC (a small computer based controller) and some small motors. Then we paid a programmer to make it all work. We probably replaced a years worth of machine building (or "stuff")and replaced it with a days worth the "services" (not "stuff"). The programmer is not considered to be in manufacturing. Bottom line? That giant sucking sound is good old yankee ingenuity figuring out how to make it better, faster, and cheaper!