clearly defined lines of doubt and uncertainty

Yeah, I blogged about this a while ago. In the short term this seems to be correct. But in the long term it seems to be better for everyone. Of course, as Keynes pointed out, in the long term we're all dead too, so...

Here's how it would be better for all for US citizens to "shop themselves out of jobs". Essentially, the only reason that foreign labor is cheaper is because it's something of a frontier in the world economy. Labor is cheaper there for the same reasons that land was cheap in the Great Plains in the 19th century: there was more than enough to go around. But after a while, the world and local economy starts to reach the end of what is never a limitless resource, no matter how infinite it seems. When that happens, prices go up.

This is happening right now in China. The demand for labor is just starting to surpass the supply, which means that employers are having to do more to attract employees, i.e. increased benefits and wages. If this happens long enough - and it will - there will no longer be any reason to export labor. Not only that, but the Third World will stop being such a nasty place to be.

Give it time. For a macroeconomic subject like this, anything shorter than five years is almost not worth talking about.

seems reasonable...definitely a perspective I haven't yet considered

It is the same in Europe with British Tesco. Or even better example is German Lidl. They push the prices down so much that it leads all smaller stores to bankrupt. And most of the stuff they sell comes from Asia. This does not really work in Germany, though. They got sick of all low-priced products (even Japanese cars) and rather buy their own - made in Germany. It makes sense to some extent.