"Sure, there are lots of people who go looking for the cheapest goods. However, there are also lots of people who would rather buy quality - but today they can't.

"There's a big difference between the current situation with Chinese imports, and the last time we headed down this path in the 1950s when the US started importing cheap products from Japan. Japanese goods (then) were deservedly considered junk. (Younger people might find that hard to believe!) The difference between then and now is that there was still a choice. You could either buy cheap Japanese products (which broke easily or never worked), OR, you could buy American, which at that time still stood for innovation, quality and value.

"But, that was then and this is now. I sometimes buy cheap when it doesn't matter. But for important purchases, I look for quality. There's a difference between being thrifty and simply not having a choice.

"Sam Walton must be turning in his grave to see what his successors have done to his hallmark practice of selling American products whenever and wherever practicable. Sadly, the choices at Sam's and Wal-Mart have turned into no choice at all. Today, it's all about low price.

"Don't get me wrong; I'm not an isolationist - just a realist. My point here is that I wouldn't be too quick to draw sweeping conclusions about consumer behavior, or exactly whose greed is responsible.

"The largest retailers wield enormous and unprecedented market power that should not be discounted (no pun intended). Indeed, consumer behavior is greatly influenced by choices. Lately, we don't seem to have many when it comes to shopping for value rather than price. I'm afraid that our children and grandchildren are in for some hard lessons about the value of diversity."

Bob James [bobarc6364@sbcglobal.net] writes on the subject of technology making us stupid and unproductive:

"I talk with people all the time regarding the growing inability of otherwise intelligent people to write anything of logical substance, not to mention good grammar.

"Twenty years ago professionals had a professional secretary to keep them looking 'literate' in their correspondence. Then along came the PC on everyone's desk and the elimination of the secretary, followed by the replacement of 'real' correspondence with e-mail. Today many younger professionals can hardly write a complete sentence without sinking into the e-mail mode of sloppy writing and bad grammar. Now we have text-messaging, reducing the two-finger mode to one thumb and even less structure. Coupled with the fact that we have replaced telephone and office conversations with the endless string of e-mails, it is a wonder that anyone gets anything of substance done in today's typical office environment.

"Is anyone doing anything about the productivity of office/knowledge workers? We can access information at the speed of light. But we read it at the speed of a slow stroll through the park, and we reply and react to it at the speed of two fingers or one thumb. Where are we headed? Will technology come to the rescue yet again?

Margaret Lowery [marget1927@yahoo.com] comments on the issue of America going bankrupt:

"I'm afraid there are only a minority of us who fear for the solvency of our country. I find too many people who claim the national debt is nothing to worry about as we're paying interest only to ourselves. Ha!

"There are times when I've thought I was the only one who could see disaster ahead. But, for sure, it's waiting and ready to pounce while we, as a nation, continue with our reckless ways. And how does one, as an individual citizen, without millions to throw into the political mess, help to change the course? Can we possibly help, before it's too late?"