I just bought a new KIA. Does that make me UN-american?

[Cirque du So-What]

25. Although I am no longer a union member, I was for many years

I experienced a similar moral dilemma in the mid-70s when I bought my first import, which was several orders of magnitude higher in quality than anything available from the big three at that time. That first wave of imported cars helped spur quality initiatives in Detroit that led to better vehicles as they embraced the principles developed by William Deming as their Japanese counterparts had done years earlier. In the end, you have to do what's right for you. Only when corporations see the effect on their bottom lines will they take steps to become competitive. Unfortunately, bean-counters at the big three appear to have given up on small vehicles in favor of maximizing profits from trucks & SUVs, which works out well for them in years when fuel is relatively cheap...otherwise, not so much.