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> America needs to onshore manufacturing of critical chemicals and components. Steel. Electronics. I'm all for countries having local manufacturing capabilitie

> America needs to onshore manufacturing of critical chemicals and components. Steel. Electronics. I'm all for countries having local manufacturing capabilities. Not just the US. I was also pretty vocal about Argentina having them when I lived there and I'd love the US to have more accessible local manufacturing now that I'm here. Thing is, as much as I can want that as an engineer with a somewhat cozy desk job it's true that on-plant jobs require skill and determination that I don't have so I feel a bit of like a hypocrite for suggesting that. Are there people in the US that want factory jobs? Because when looking for talent in California for stuff like manufacturing engineering, supplier development... or when trying to find small shops that will prototype I kinda feel that no one wants to do that. Salaries are kinda okish for those positions, but to actually rebuild the talent and the collective energy and willpower to work those jobs is going to take a while. Honestly can't blame the Bay Area for not wanting to work in plant considering public transport sucks and everything closes early. You need someone at the house or with flexible schedule to be able to take a job on plant.

arcticbull 5y ago
> Are there people in the US that want factory jobs? The only way to make manufacturing at home competitive with overseas is full-scale automation. It won't create jobs to bring it back onshore - nor should it for exactly the reasons you specify. Instead, it would be a strategic investment.
- azinman2 5y ago
  Except automation can’t change on a dime. It also is bad at all kinds of things… just see Musk’s commentary on why they backed away from so much automation with Model 3 for humans.
  - AnthonyMouse 5y ago
    Automation works. It's not perfect but it works. The biggest impediments are political. China will subsidize anything they're not already leading in. To counteract that, you either need tariffs or your own subsidies. But corporations will fight against tariffs (they've already invested in manufacturing in China) and labor unions will fight against subsidies for automation, so here we are.
  - arcticbull 5y ago
    > It also is bad at all kinds of things… For now. The trajectory is pretty clear, and the goal would be to shoot for where the puck is going, not where it was.
m4rtink 5y ago
On the other hand interdependence reduces the likelihood of conflict somewhat.
beauzero 5y ago
The rural South wants those jobs.
- krapp 5y ago
  The rural South wants a lot of things it probably isn't going to get. Most of those jobs will be automated away or low wage and low security Amazon warehouse kinds of employment. If they're expecting lifetime security on the assembly line with enough money for two cars in the garage and a pension with a gold watch at the end, it's not going to happen. That's not how the world works anymore.

arcticbull 5y ago

> Are there people in the US that want factory jobs? The only way to make manufacturing at home competitive with overseas is full-scale automation. It won't create jobs to bring it back onshore - nor should it for exactly the reasons you specify. Instead, it would be a strategic investment.

azinman2 5y ago
Except automation can’t change on a dime. It also is bad at all kinds of things… just see Musk’s commentary on why they backed away from so much automation with Model 3 for humans.
- AnthonyMouse 5y ago
  Automation works. It's not perfect but it works. The biggest impediments are political. China will subsidize anything they're not already leading in. To counteract that, you either need tariffs or your own subsidies. But corporations will fight against tariffs (they've already invested in manufacturing in China) and labor unions will fight against subsidies for automation, so here we are.
- arcticbull 5y ago
  > It also is bad at all kinds of things… For now. The trajectory is pretty clear, and the goal would be to shoot for where the puck is going, not where it was.

m4rtink 5y ago

On the other hand interdependence reduces the likelihood of conflict somewhat.

beauzero 5y ago

The rural South wants those jobs.

krapp 5y ago
The rural South wants a lot of things it probably isn't going to get. Most of those jobs will be automated away or low wage and low security Amazon warehouse kinds of employment. If they're expecting lifetime security on the assembly line with enough money for two cars in the garage and a pension with a gold watch at the end, it's not going to happen. That's not how the world works anymore.