🐷 “No-one wants to work anymore”

I’ve done warehouse work and I’d never want to do it over in the US. I assume it’s the same for manufacturing. It’s not a hypocritical position, the problem is that manufacturing jobs are especially hellish in the reactionary regime than regular union-struggled liberalism. Like, pretty sure I’d get cancer from them, judging from the US chem workers I’ve talked to.

That said, there are probably plenty of “Not In My Career Path” jerks in there too who want children and immigrants to do it.

The charitable reading of this is that 55% of Americans want to bring back manufacturing for the benefit of other people who might benefit, even though they don’t believe they need such a job themselves.

Americans have done absolutely nothing to earn a charitable reading.

Because most Americans are dumb and most American boomers are even dumber. “Bringing back manufacturing” is not a thing they have ever dedicated a modicum of thought to. If they have it’s probably “factory work manly, service work gay” or whatever. There is no thought about industrial policy or even an assesment of the current industrial landscape.

For instance where I live there are basically nonstop free or even paid courses to train and place people in industrial trades so that they can work in manufacturing or construction. These jobs cannot find enough employees. i honestly don’t know why more people don’t do it. My only guess is that these jobs are quite brutal and require a ton of OT compared to making 60k a year in an office/wfh working ten hours a week.

The boomers up here still say “bring back manufacturing though” as if it means anything.

I feel like the average American’s perception of line work is Laverne and Shirley lol. Kinda like when my parents would talk about how bagging groceries looked more fun than their office jobs - not wrong, but they perceive it that way because they don’t treat people like shit, most people (management or customers) treat the grocery bagger like shit, so it really takes the shine off. But yeah I think it depends on how separated one is from doing actual labor. Like I really like landscaping and construction, and think we should have those jobs, but my body still hurts from when I had to drag my carcass to them daily. Same with much of my family as we’ve made the shift over generations from farmers>coal miners>mechanics>machinists>engineers. AND THEY WERE ALL EXTREMELY PRO-UNION. People don’t miss manual labor, they maybe miss some romanticized notion of “8-hrs hard days work, for 8-hrs hard days pay”, but guess what fucko, people stopped militantly organizing and now it’s “12-hrs hard days work, for “6-hrs hard days pay- oh and we need you in on Saturday”. Anyway my carpal tunnel is flaring up so I should wrap up this tangent.

Ironically a lot of them already do have harder, longer, more stressful and more dangerous jobs in various hustle gigs than they would have even in XX century factory not to mention modern one.

Then again, i might be overestimating the safety standards in the USA, i wouldn’t be surprised if what counts as “modern” factory in US was some XIX century industrial hell with open pools of toxic shit, machinery maiming people regularly and no protective gear.

20% of the country is a lot. The problem isn’t bringing back manufacturing, the problem is the way they’re doing it. Blanket tariffs are the stupidest possible way, and really you just need central planning. Also even if manufacturing returns it’s just gonna be done with robots anyway, Trump has never cared about workers why start now.

For 20 years I’ve waited the promised robots, automation, AI and battery revolution to make all human work unnecessary. When it will finally happen?

Not an actual factory, but I’ve largely enjoyed my time in and around a metal workshop :( As someone who grew up in an academic/desk job family, I don’t really see the lack of appeal other than the judgement of other white collar people. Compared to kitchen work and gig work, anyway.

20% seems like a lot though to be fair. But manufacturing isnt the kind of job you can just walk into and start the same day - you need training!

People don’t miss manufacturing jobs, they miss high wages. We associate American manufacturing with high wages, so the idea that bringing back manufacturing would bring back high wages is a kind of cargo cult notion - but of course we all know that it was high unionization that drove high wages, high progressive taxes that built all the infrastructure in this fukken country, and high imperialism that made it all possible.

My theory is they think they’ll become managers of these factories or some management position while immigrants or young people toil.

A relative worked a union factory job with the UAW. He had a house, a farm, three cars, a small plane, and a 40 year retirement. That was only working as a draftsman, not a full engineer or any other kind of prestige position. I’d totally make that deal with the devil to ensure I could do the things I care about.

People just want to be paid better and not give all their fucking money up to cost of living but they think they need factory union jobs for that when really they just need to start following luigi’s example