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I had a conversation with someone who I usually respect, and would say is an intelligent person. He's a trump supporter for the manufacturing support. He said,

I had a conversation with someone who I usually respect, and would say is an intelligent person. He's a trump supporter for the manufacturing support. He said, "It's just not that hard to get these factories back to the states. We can get that done this month." The amount of cognitive dissonance and just outright believing the lies is astounding. Trump won't say that states need to build those factories. He'll tell governors that they're failures for not having done it already.

bjourne 2y ago
He's not wrong. It is technically possible. However, transforming the US into a command economy may not be the best thing to do.
- ajmurmann 2y ago
  We can build a factory in a month, including permitting, acquiring the land, planning the building and constucting it, as well as procuring or building the machinery and setting it up in the factory, programming it and hiring and training the workforce during high employment? That's very impressive!
  - masfuerte 2y ago
    High employment isn't going to be a blocker for much longer.
  - lesuorac 2y ago
    Perhaps not a month but the US really can build things fast if that's actually prioritized. https://www.globalhighways.com/wh10/feature/building-replacement-bridge-record-time https://www.globalhighways.com/wh10/feature/building-replace... tbh, as far as I'm concerned the hollowing out of the USG is why we can't do things fast. How many times has your boss had the entire team submit a proposal on how long it would take each member of the team to complete a JIRA ticket and then use that bidding as to who to assign the ticket? Like if you could build bridges and stuff in-house then you really speed things up. Given that something like a factory is probably going to require eminent domain to get a large contiguous tract (or built in the middle of nowhere so no counter-lawsuit) it seems fine for the government to build the shell of a building and then sell it off to be customized.
    - ajmurmann 2y ago
      11 months is truly impressive but of course a far cry from a single month. A bridge also needs no machinery and workers permanently dedicated to it. IMO it's absolutely crucial for the US to cut down red tape and silly regulations to allow all construction to get done much more rapidly. I also wonder how this translates to building many projects like it at the same time. I understand construction capacity and backlogs are a huge bottleneck and we are in the process of deporting large numbers of people who could work on it while never having been good at growing a strong workforce in trades that require certification like electricians because we won't give out H1Bs for those.
  - bluGill 2y ago
    He didn't specify what factory. I have a metal lathe in my shop, if I thought it was worth it I could turn it into a factory in 10 minutes - including the time to change my clothes. I could a factory to build simple toolboxes in about a month - not much space or equipment needed. Building a car assembly line - one month if you will accept a production rate of 1 every year. Want to turn out a new car every minute and it will take a lot longer.
  - bongodongobob 2y ago
    No we can't. I work for a national construction company that works on large projects like that. From plans to production, you're looking at 2-3 years.
  - bjourne 2y ago
    In order to save its industry from the Nazis, the USSR moved over 1,500 large factories eastward in under six months in 1941. So the US in 2025 could certainly build at least a few factories in under a month. It would be a complete waste of government resources and certainly should be spent on something more worthwhile (like eradicating homelessness), but it's not impossible.
- quickthrowman 2y ago
  It’s not possible without seizing the means of production. An electrical switchboard that can power a factory has a minimum 24 week lead time, probably more like 52 weeks. In my local construction market everyone is already working. There’s no slack manpower, particularly in the skilled trades (mech, elec, plumbing) The above also ignores the fact that nobody wants to lend capital for such projects, so the government will need to finance it.
- mediaman 2y ago
  If you have ever been involved in new factory construction for anything that's more than light manual assembly, this statement would be very amusing to you.
duxup 2y ago
I wonder if he wants to work in a shoe factory?
- Loughla 2y ago
  It's funny you say that, because we talked about literally that. No joke. No, he does not and would not want to work in a shoe factory, but he remembers when he was 16 and his first job was actually in a local shoe factory. He said it was a terrible job, but taught him how to keep a job. And he appreciated being able to buy shoes that were made by people he knew. . . . "I want that opportunity for my grandson." It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to exist in quantity.
- gosub100 2y ago
  How is that any different than hourly wage slave jobs now? It's better than being homeless or spending imaginary bucks printed against a debt that will never be paid off
  - duxup 2y ago
    >How is that any different than hourly wage slave jobs now? It doesn't sound like you like those jobs, shoe factory might not be better, so yay? Better than being homeless isn't much of a selling point...
- oceanplexian 2y ago
  The US already makes highly advanced goods like cars using robotic manufacturing. Wouldn't an entrepreneur be able to figure out how to make something as simple as a shoe factory? And wouldn't that also result in fairly high paying union jobs, such as the people to maintain the machines and software?
  - duxup 2y ago
    Question might be first why haven't they already?
  - bluGill 2y ago

bjourne 2y ago

He's not wrong. It is technically possible. However, transforming the US into a command economy may not be the best thing to do.

ajmurmann 2y ago
We can build a factory in a month, including permitting, acquiring the land, planning the building and constucting it, as well as procuring or building the machinery and setting it up in the factory, programming it and hiring and training the workforce during high employment? That's very impressive!
- masfuerte 2y ago
  High employment isn't going to be a blocker for much longer.
- lesuorac 2y ago
  Perhaps not a month but the US really can build things fast if that's actually prioritized. https://www.globalhighways.com/wh10/feature/building-replacement-bridge-record-time https://www.globalhighways.com/wh10/feature/building-replace... tbh, as far as I'm concerned the hollowing out of the USG is why we can't do things fast. How many times has your boss had the entire team submit a proposal on how long it would take each member of the team to complete a JIRA ticket and then use that bidding as to who to assign the ticket? Like if you could build bridges and stuff in-house then you really speed things up. Given that something like a factory is probably going to require eminent domain to get a large contiguous tract (or built in the middle of nowhere so no counter-lawsuit) it seems fine for the government to build the shell of a building and then sell it off to be customized.
  - ajmurmann 2y ago
    11 months is truly impressive but of course a far cry from a single month. A bridge also needs no machinery and workers permanently dedicated to it. IMO it's absolutely crucial for the US to cut down red tape and silly regulations to allow all construction to get done much more rapidly. I also wonder how this translates to building many projects like it at the same time. I understand construction capacity and backlogs are a huge bottleneck and we are in the process of deporting large numbers of people who could work on it while never having been good at growing a strong workforce in trades that require certification like electricians because we won't give out H1Bs for those.
- bluGill 2y ago
  He didn't specify what factory. I have a metal lathe in my shop, if I thought it was worth it I could turn it into a factory in 10 minutes - including the time to change my clothes. I could a factory to build simple toolboxes in about a month - not much space or equipment needed. Building a car assembly line - one month if you will accept a production rate of 1 every year. Want to turn out a new car every minute and it will take a lot longer.
- bongodongobob 2y ago
  No we can't. I work for a national construction company that works on large projects like that. From plans to production, you're looking at 2-3 years.
- bjourne 2y ago
  In order to save its industry from the Nazis, the USSR moved over 1,500 large factories eastward in under six months in 1941. So the US in 2025 could certainly build at least a few factories in under a month. It would be a complete waste of government resources and certainly should be spent on something more worthwhile (like eradicating homelessness), but it's not impossible.
quickthrowman 2y ago
It’s not possible without seizing the means of production. An electrical switchboard that can power a factory has a minimum 24 week lead time, probably more like 52 weeks. In my local construction market everyone is already working. There’s no slack manpower, particularly in the skilled trades (mech, elec, plumbing) The above also ignores the fact that nobody wants to lend capital for such projects, so the government will need to finance it.
mediaman 2y ago
If you have ever been involved in new factory construction for anything that's more than light manual assembly, this statement would be very amusing to you.

duxup 2y ago

I wonder if he wants to work in a shoe factory?

Loughla 2y ago
It's funny you say that, because we talked about literally that. No joke. No, he does not and would not want to work in a shoe factory, but he remembers when he was 16 and his first job was actually in a local shoe factory. He said it was a terrible job, but taught him how to keep a job. And he appreciated being able to buy shoes that were made by people he knew. . . . "I want that opportunity for my grandson." It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to exist in quantity.
gosub100 2y ago
How is that any different than hourly wage slave jobs now? It's better than being homeless or spending imaginary bucks printed against a debt that will never be paid off
- duxup 2y ago
  >How is that any different than hourly wage slave jobs now? It doesn't sound like you like those jobs, shoe factory might not be better, so yay? Better than being homeless isn't much of a selling point...
oceanplexian 2y ago
The US already makes highly advanced goods like cars using robotic manufacturing. Wouldn't an entrepreneur be able to figure out how to make something as simple as a shoe factory? And wouldn't that also result in fairly high paying union jobs, such as the people to maintain the machines and software?
- duxup 2y ago
  Question might be first why haven't they already?
- bluGill 2y ago