As they say, the thing about common sense is that it's often neither common nor particularly sensible.
Why does physical proximity equal morality in purchasing decisions? I can understand your argument from a perspective of _greed_ (as in "I believe that if I spend my money locally it is more likely to enrich the people in my community and therefore me.) But it doesn't make any sense to intentionally _mis-allocate_ resources by making spending decisions on a non-economic basis, then justify that decision on moral grounds.
From a moral standpoint, it seems to me that you should allocate your spending to the group that is producing value most efficiently, since that improves everyone's situation. If guys in China can make a product more efficiently / cheaply than your local maker, shouldn't they get that business? Why is an American more deserving of your purchase than someone in Indonesia? Essentially, you're saying that one human is more valuable than other due to their proximity to you.
If $0.50 of pay makes a bigger difference to the quality of life of a worker in China than $1.00 does for your neighbor, isn't the moral thing to do really buying the product from China? It results in a larger net improvement in quality of life.
(Note that I'm not advocating buying foreign. I'm just taking issue with the idea that buying local is necessarily more "moral" because it benefits people near you.) It's like those who argue you should block immigration because people already in the country have a moral right to those jobs.
Why does physical proximity equal morality in purchasing decisions? I can understand your argument from a perspective of _greed_ (as in "I believe that if I spend my money locally it is more likely to enrich the people in my community and therefore me.) But it doesn't make any sense to intentionally _mis-allocate_ resources by making spending decisions on a non-economic basis, then justify that decision on moral grounds.
From a moral standpoint, it seems to me that you should allocate your spending to the group that is producing value most efficiently, since that improves everyone's situation. If guys in China can make a product more efficiently / cheaply than your local maker, shouldn't they get that business? Why is an American more deserving of your purchase than someone in Indonesia? Essentially, you're saying that one human is more valuable than other due to their proximity to you.
If $0.50 of pay makes a bigger difference to the quality of life of a worker in China than $1.00 does for your neighbor, isn't the moral thing to do really buying the product from China? It results in a larger net improvement in quality of life.
(Note that I'm not advocating buying foreign. I'm just taking issue with the idea that buying local is necessarily more "moral" because it benefits people near you.) It's like those who argue you should block immigration because people already in the country have a moral right to those jobs.