We have become such a specialized country with such a wide trade gap that any fluctuation in the world economy will have drastic effects on our way of life. We have no choice but to police the world or face having to make our own chinsy crap that used to be made in China, and make our own high tech appliances that used to be made in Hong Kong and Japan, and make all of our own steel again, and look for fossil fuels in our nature preserves because we couldn't afford to import those things anymore. Isolationism is not only a bad idea, it's also become technically infeasible because this country doesn't make things anymore, we only buy things. The cost of production must remain low worldwide or else the cost of living in America will sky rocket.
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