The Myth of America's Industrial Comeback: What’s Really Happening
Written on 9 April 2025.
The Myth of America's Industrial Comeback: What’s Really Happening
A recent Telegram post by Mike Adams pulled no punches in challenging the idea that America is poised to experience an industrial renaissance under Donald Trump’s leadership. His words struck a chord with many who sense that something deeper is at play beneath the patriotic rhetoric about "bringing back jobs" and "restoring American greatness."
Adams' post highlighted four critical truths:
- The factories no longer exist.
- Americans are no longer interested in factory work.
- The technical skills required are two generations gone.
- The only willing laborers—illegal immigrants—are being deported.
The premise is stark but undeniably realistic. Nostalgia alone cannot power up a manufacturing base that’s been dismantled for decades. Even if the political will existed to rebuild America's industrial sector, it would not—and could not—look like it did in the 1940s.
Automation and Advanced Robotics
Today’s competitive manufacturing facilities are more likely to resemble Tesla’s Gigafactory than a Ford assembly line from the mid-20th century. These are smart factories, increasingly autonomous and reliant on machine learning, AI, and robotics. They're built with the intent of minimizing human involvement, not maximizing it. Many factories globally now run lights-out—literally operating in the dark because no humans are present. This level of automation is the true cutting edge, and America must adapt or fall behind.
Importing Talent, Not Jobs
Even if America were to resurrect its factory base, the workforce needed to operate modern manufacturing equipment simply doesn't exist domestically at scale. That skill set has largely vanished due to cultural shifts, educational neglect of trades, and economic incentives favoring tech and service industries. Realistically, America would need to import specialists from countries where these skills are still alive and evolving.
A Broken Pipeline
The decline in skilled labor is not an accident. The systems that once trained and directed Americans into manufacturing—trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and even the social respect for "blue-collar work"—have eroded. Today’s youth are not being primed for industrial work, and trying to flip that switch culturally and economically will take decades, not election cycles.
Tariffs Can’t Turn Back the Clock
Tariffs might level the playing field a little, but they can’t recreate what no longer exists. Without the factories, the skills, and the cultural willpower to reindustrialize in a modern way, protectionist policies may only lead to inflation, not revival. Adams’ critique thus serves as a sobering reminder:
The world has changed—and America must face what it has truly become. Not what it remembers being.
It’s not 1945. The factories of the future won't hire millions—they’ll be run by a few hundred skilled technicians overseeing thousands of automated systems.
Trump’s vision may stir hope, but hope needs machinery, training, and willingness to function. Without these, all the patriotic speeches in the world won’t move the gears of industry.