3 ms·

Why would this matter at all? Almost every single thing you own was manufactured in China. Almost nothing you own is manufactured in America. The US car indust

Why would this matter at all? Almost every single thing you own was manufactured in China. Almost nothing you own is manufactured in America. The US car industry only exists because the US has banned the Chinese competition. China has 10x the employees in manufacturing. If you remove the areas where Chinese competition is banned, cars and defense, the lead will be even more enormous. Actually look at what part of the US economy is manufacturing. The US is not manufacturing "even though" 1/30 the of the population works in manufacturing. Also compare the jobs. In Software basically every job is a high paying middle class existence. In manufacturing basically every job is lower class. Studying mechanical engineering in the US is choosing to be a looser.

Amezarak 1y ago
> Why would this matter at all? You suggested that it’s a small niche and that the US is focusing entirely on software. That’s obviously not true. It “feels” true because of where the hype is at and because we’re on HN. > China has 10x the employees in manufacturing They also have more than a billion more people, about 4x the population. > Studying mechanical engineering in the US is choosing to be a looser. I don’t think that’s true but it is true the demand is not as high. Are salaries much higher in China? Of course it’s also true that outside of SF, tech salaries are not impressive. The median salaries are 103k and 138k, for mechanical engineers and software developers respectively, according to the BLS, not really a class difference.
- constantcrying 1y ago
  Who cares? Again: US manufacturing only exists where the government outlaws competition. Namely defense and cars. Everything you own is made in China. The US is not competing with China at all in manufacturing. This is why labor statistics and salaries do not matter. The US has chosen not to compete. You are focusing on irrelevant statistics over the actual reality, which is that the US is not competing with China. Ever you own is made in China.
  - Amezarak 1y ago
    I live within an hours drive of multiple (at least four) factories that aren’t producing defense or car products. I’m sure there’s more I don’t know about. I have a Chapman set sitting on my desk right now. I bought it because someone else had one and I was really impressed with the quality. This level of hyperbole doesn’t do any good. I agree America needs to work to strengthen the manufacturing sector but pretending it’s all over and all gone is absurd.
    - constantcrying 1y ago
      >but pretending it’s all over and all gone is absurd Exactly, that was the point of my original post. I am not saying that it is over (which was the claim of the article). I am saying the US is not even competing. The delusion I was talking about is that people either believe that China is a magical place where everything is made and which is unbeatable in every way OR that American manufacturing has no problems, that it is actually superior and that China only produces low quality trash which nobody needs. Bother beliefs directly lead to the same conclusion, namely that nothing should change. Either because it is futile or because doing so is a waste of resources. If America wanted to compete it could. But that would mean massive onshoring efforts and training millions of people to work in factories. This is not an option it is a necessity to bring back manufacturing, because it would need to be brought back.

Amezarak 1y ago

> Why would this matter at all? You suggested that it’s a small niche and that the US is focusing entirely on software. That’s obviously not true. It “feels” true because of where the hype is at and because we’re on HN. > China has 10x the employees in manufacturing They also have more than a billion more people, about 4x the population. > Studying mechanical engineering in the US is choosing to be a looser. I don’t think that’s true but it is true the demand is not as high. Are salaries much higher in China? Of course it’s also true that outside of SF, tech salaries are not impressive. The median salaries are 103k and 138k, for mechanical engineers and software developers respectively, according to the BLS, not really a class difference.

constantcrying 1y ago
Who cares? Again: US manufacturing only exists where the government outlaws competition. Namely defense and cars. Everything you own is made in China. The US is not competing with China at all in manufacturing. This is why labor statistics and salaries do not matter. The US has chosen not to compete. You are focusing on irrelevant statistics over the actual reality, which is that the US is not competing with China. Ever you own is made in China.
- Amezarak 1y ago
  I live within an hours drive of multiple (at least four) factories that aren’t producing defense or car products. I’m sure there’s more I don’t know about. I have a Chapman set sitting on my desk right now. I bought it because someone else had one and I was really impressed with the quality. This level of hyperbole doesn’t do any good. I agree America needs to work to strengthen the manufacturing sector but pretending it’s all over and all gone is absurd.
  - constantcrying 1y ago
    >but pretending it’s all over and all gone is absurd Exactly, that was the point of my original post. I am not saying that it is over (which was the claim of the article). I am saying the US is not even competing. The delusion I was talking about is that people either believe that China is a magical place where everything is made and which is unbeatable in every way OR that American manufacturing has no problems, that it is actually superior and that China only produces low quality trash which nobody needs. Bother beliefs directly lead to the same conclusion, namely that nothing should change. Either because it is futile or because doing so is a waste of resources. If America wanted to compete it could. But that would mean massive onshoring efforts and training millions of people to work in factories. This is not an option it is a necessity to bring back manufacturing, because it would need to be brought back.