eavesdropper, two more viewpoints for you to consider.

1. Yes, in some of these countries, people may not have a “choice” in life. But I think that’s exactly the reason that American have no reasons to bitch about things. We have so many choices available to us to improve our lots, that the rest of the world could only dream about.

2. Yes, the corporations might be screwing US tax payers, but maximizing profits is what corporations do. But that standard, how much more screwed are the foreigners, where US corporations went there, paying under “50 cents an hour” , lowering “environmental standard” (which is just a nice way of saying exploiting their natural resources and killing people over long term via pollution), and dispatching the majority of the earning as profits, which are owned mainly by US citizens through their pensions and 401Ks, etc. As for Chinese trade surplus in US, they are only allowed to buy the worthless treasury notes that might actually default this summer (look at how many times the Congress has blocked Chinese from purchasing US companies/resources citing national security).

I could understand some of your views that the shit that American taxpayer took in this deal. But life is full of shits. And if you open your eyes to the rest of the world, you will find that we are actually living like royal family (which by the way, take shits from the public from time to time as well).