The idea of “buying American”, especially regarding automobiles, is plastered all over the media. We find it on the television, in our dealership commercials, and in our news magazines, which sigh over our current economic status. Some news outlets are even starting to claim that “it’s getting more difficult to buy American”.

Proponents often assert that buying American products is an outward form of patriotism; having an American car will make you a more politically-aware citizen, and one who truly cares about the country. Critics argue that we cannot support the American auto industry until “the auto industry supports America”.

No one understands this American dilemma more than the city of Detroit and its surrounding metropolis. Henry Ford built the city according to his own vision: create an American product, do it efficiently, and success will be ours. However, Detroit is failing fast, and jobs are being moved elsewhere.

This year, I will have spent 20 years of my life living in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. My father, a respectable man in his 60s, has worked for the auto industry since he graduated from college. I have witnessed firsthand how the purchase and mere existence of automobiles have shaped his life and my city’s evolution.

Now, in the midst of a new political climate, a downtrodden economy, and severe job outsourcing, my beautiful home state is suffering under the weight of its own mistake: relying almost entirely on the production of automobiles for its sustenance.

Will buying American cars help save the city? Can we even be saved? Furthermore, how will the youth of Detroit and the youth of America respond to the Motor City‘s crisis?

To address these questions, I turned to the people who matter the most in determining America’s future: my friends and peers. I assumed that, since we are the sons and daughters of the auto industry itself, we would project a resounding attitude of buying American, no matter what. I was proven wrong, with intelligence and realism.

Marc Trexler, a native of West Bloomfield, MI and a student at RPI Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, put the opinions of many of the youth of Detroit very succinctly.

Said Trexler, “In a perfect world, where foreign and domestic goods were identical in quality and price, I would buy American every time. But I would never choose an American product of less quality over a better foreign product if the price was roughly the same.”

His sentiments echo those of many of the Detroiters I have spoken with: we’ll buy American if the product (namely, an automobile) is worth the price. But as of right now? Frankly, companies like Honda, Hyundai, and Toyota are making more reliable products. But these companies are not all strictly non-American; many of them have a strong American presence.

Sara Roszkowski of Dearborn, MI, shed even more light on buying American in relating it to her mother’s employment from Toyota.

“My mom works for Toyota and has for the past ten years. In 2009, Toyota has directly employed over 30,000 [Americans]; indirectly, over 160,000. Those aren’t tremendous numbers…but it’s nothing to brush off, either.”

She makes a very interesting point; just because you support a non-American company does not automatically mean you are not supporting Americans. Which is more important: the brand name, or the people behind it? Toyota, a company originally based in Tokyo, Japan, has a very important place in the American auto industry, employing thousands of our citizens. Does this fact make buying Toyota products an American act?

My friends and I cannot be sure whether or not our once-thriving city will ever bounce back from its current state of downfall. We worry often, and we will continue to worry until something turns around.

Do we blame the auto industry for so badly hurting our home? Most certainly.

But as Detroiters and as Americans, we recognize that buying American is not always the perfect remedy. The youth of the nation, however, will have to decide whether or not this is true for themselves.