[ElevenLathe]

I'm from Michigan and this whole debate looks a lot like ones that I've seen talking place about "buying American" my whole life. At one time in my hometown, you would worry about getting keyed in parking lots if you drove a "foreign" car. I'm told that even earlier, Fords and Chryslers were at risk (it being a GM town).

Ultimately though, even the "Detroit" automakers decamped, first from the cities themselves to the suburbs, then to nonunion states in the South, and finally to Mexico and overseas. Meanwhile, foreign automakers invest heavily in their North American facilities.

There's nobody keying Hondas in the high school parking lot during home games anymore.

The point is that, no matter how much we want locally made cars, and to take pride in the work and industry of our neighbors and countrymen, we can't impact this as consumers. Moralize all you like about your car purchase, but your behavior one way or another won't stand in the way of transnational capital flows.