4 ms·

Maybe you should visit the rust belt/midwest before SV starts patting itself on the back for single-handedly re-invigorating the economy. I get the spirit, but

Maybe you should visit the rust belt/midwest before SV starts patting itself on the back for single-handedly re-invigorating the economy. I get the spirit, but flyover country is not doing great. Unemployment is rising and there is a severe lack of decent paying jobs. Chips are great, but everything else is made in Asia. Increased automation is making a ton of jobs obsolete and there is no solution in sight yet. Chips ain't gonna do it.

tomcam 2y ago
You are completely correct. But the chips have immense strategic value. Not being able to manufacture them would be catastrophic in the event that China cut us off.
epistasis 2y ago
Maybe you should look at actual stats for what's going on in the economy before being completely cynical. The investment in factories is absolutely massive over the past few years. The Inflation Reduction Act is bringing massive amounts of manufacturing into the US, starting with the lowest value add of assembly, and after that additional suppliers lower down the chain will be built up too. It is not SV reinvigorating the economy, it's not happening in SV, it's happening in small towns all over the country. It's happening due to the bills that Democrats passed over Republican opposition, but because of politics, it's not being trumpeted as a partisan win in the towns where factories are being built.
- laidoffamazon 2y ago
  > The investment in factories is absolutely massive over the past few years. The fascinating thing is people don't want to believe this. They'll make every excuse before admitting that it's true. They want to be in a declining empire when the reality is the opposite.
  - riehwvfbk 2y ago
    That's because reality that is readily observable by these people does not match the reality reported by the media and the reality portrayed in Democrat speeches. In that alternate reality manufacturing-heavy towns are booming and not dying out. US-made automobiles are the most advanced and Detroit is a world-class city. And it's simply not true, much like what Pravda would report back in the day.
    - laidoffamazon 2y ago
      > reality that is readily observable by these people does not match the reality reported by the media and the reality portrayed in Democrat speeches. Democratic* and also, no. > US-made automobiles are the most advanced You may be living in a different country then, given how impressive Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid are. > And it's simply not true Except it is, you're proving my point
      - kragen 2y ago
        here's a bookmark from a few days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqhTRQ--x_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqhTRQ--x_Q #video on #China/#USA politics trying to keep out electric vehicles with 100% tariffs while US car companies spend their government EV research grants on stock buybacks. High-end electric cars, electric dumptrucks, and even electric mopeds support battery-change recharging; it’s commercially deployed. They’re very impressed with how advanced all the Chinese cars are, and also positively impressed with how accommodating the auto parts manufacturers they met with were, especially by contrast to US and Canadian companies. a thing i didn't mention in that bookmark is that the prc-company-made equivalent to the (prc-made) tesla model y (still the most popular car in the prc) is one fourth of the price
        corimaith 2y ago
        Somebody took the time to bookmark some political video about the trade war between China and US to post in a comment on hackernews?
        2y ago
  - bongodongobob 2y ago
    Cool, factories get invested in, the c levels get paid $500k/year and the workers get $17.50/hr. Come to the Midwest and see it.
  - macinjosh 2y ago
    Investment in factories != investment in american communities. Legal immigrants with special protected status, Medicare coverage, and some basic income from the government are given these manufacturing jobs because then the investors don't have to pay for health benefits, can severely under pay, plus they have the bonus of having a desperate, captive workforce. The investment class thinks workers need to be knocked down a couple pegs. This stuff will not end well.
  - consteval 2y ago
    > don't want to believe this I don't think so. Rather, we are being told repeatedly that investment in factories is real bad and we should just continue to do what we did. We, then, respond to that - and that gets interpreted as "oh so you don't believe the situation is getting better?" It is getting better, but there's still a lot of opposition and the opposition still needs to be addressed and their concerns heard.
- bongodongobob 2y ago
  Bro I fuckin live in it. I don't care what stats you have, people in the Midwest are struggling to afford groceries and housing. Come visit.

tomcam 2y ago

You are completely correct. But the chips have immense strategic value. Not being able to manufacture them would be catastrophic in the event that China cut us off.

epistasis 2y ago

Maybe you should look at actual stats for what's going on in the economy before being completely cynical. The investment in factories is absolutely massive over the past few years. The Inflation Reduction Act is bringing massive amounts of manufacturing into the US, starting with the lowest value add of assembly, and after that additional suppliers lower down the chain will be built up too. It is not SV reinvigorating the economy, it's not happening in SV, it's happening in small towns all over the country. It's happening due to the bills that Democrats passed over Republican opposition, but because of politics, it's not being trumpeted as a partisan win in the towns where factories are being built.

laidoffamazon 2y ago
> The investment in factories is absolutely massive over the past few years. The fascinating thing is people don't want to believe this. They'll make every excuse before admitting that it's true. They want to be in a declining empire when the reality is the opposite.
- riehwvfbk 2y ago
  That's because reality that is readily observable by these people does not match the reality reported by the media and the reality portrayed in Democrat speeches. In that alternate reality manufacturing-heavy towns are booming and not dying out. US-made automobiles are the most advanced and Detroit is a world-class city. And it's simply not true, much like what Pravda would report back in the day.
  - laidoffamazon 2y ago
    > reality that is readily observable by these people does not match the reality reported by the media and the reality portrayed in Democrat speeches. Democratic* and also, no. > US-made automobiles are the most advanced You may be living in a different country then, given how impressive Tesla, Rivian, and Lucid are. > And it's simply not true Except it is, you're proving my point
    - kragen 2y ago
      here's a bookmark from a few days ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqhTRQ--x_Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqhTRQ--x_Q #video on #China/#USA politics trying to keep out electric vehicles with 100% tariffs while US car companies spend their government EV research grants on stock buybacks. High-end electric cars, electric dumptrucks, and even electric mopeds support battery-change recharging; it’s commercially deployed. They’re very impressed with how advanced all the Chinese cars are, and also positively impressed with how accommodating the auto parts manufacturers they met with were, especially by contrast to US and Canadian companies. a thing i didn't mention in that bookmark is that the prc-company-made equivalent to the (prc-made) tesla model y (still the most popular car in the prc) is one fourth of the price
      - corimaith 2y ago
        Somebody took the time to bookmark some political video about the trade war between China and US to post in a comment on hackernews?
        2y ago
- bongodongobob 2y ago
  Cool, factories get invested in, the c levels get paid $500k/year and the workers get $17.50/hr. Come to the Midwest and see it.
- macinjosh 2y ago
  Investment in factories != investment in american communities. Legal immigrants with special protected status, Medicare coverage, and some basic income from the government are given these manufacturing jobs because then the investors don't have to pay for health benefits, can severely under pay, plus they have the bonus of having a desperate, captive workforce. The investment class thinks workers need to be knocked down a couple pegs. This stuff will not end well.
- consteval 2y ago
  > don't want to believe this I don't think so. Rather, we are being told repeatedly that investment in factories is real bad and we should just continue to do what we did. We, then, respond to that - and that gets interpreted as "oh so you don't believe the situation is getting better?" It is getting better, but there's still a lot of opposition and the opposition still needs to be addressed and their concerns heard.
bongodongobob 2y ago
Bro I fuckin live in it. I don't care what stats you have, people in the Midwest are struggling to afford groceries and housing. Come visit.