Forget, for a few moments, your own particular country.

In general, do you believe that everyone should prefer to buy (up to and including “only buy”) products that are produced in one’s own country?

Leave out considerations of the place in which you were born, the nation of which you are a citizen, the locale that you call home (or any combination of those, or any other way in which you determine the country that is “yours”).

We’ve seen that one can either be a patriot or have a free market. The two cannot go together (see previous page if you don’t understand the reasoning). Therefore, there must be some moderation between a completely free market and a completely patriotic one.

And, of course, patriotism is not the only thing that can modify simple “buy low & sell high” rules. Many other considerations come under the broad and vague heading of “quality”, things which have to do more with how we perceive the products than any essential characteristic.

Add that to the simple historical and geographical evidence that shows that any one locale cannot create everything that it needs and desires. There will always be products or even simply resources and raw materials that you cannot access without trade between two communities (or regions, or nations).

Even if you manage to be able to feed and clothe and shelter all of the people in your community, you certainly may not be able to satisfy even slightly complex needs and desires. And, obviously, there will come a time when the economy cannot sustain itself.

If you have to make a profit selling something to someone who has to make a profit selling something to you, eventually someone will not have enough (either products or money) to complete the transaction.

If you do manage to stabilize the economy, what happens when more people arrive (usually in the form of very little people at first, but with new needs — and more of them — once they get bigger)?