I think that we are still strong in science and engineering - about 9 million bachelor degrees each year and the world’s highest Ph.D. production. And we did do the whole Internet and Silicon Valley things since 1974.
Yes, we did export a lot of manufacturing, but some has come back, and we lead in other areas, like the commercial space industry.
Don’t let the bastards get you down, there is still great strength here, if we just get some good leadership and policies for a change.
And China at last count was graduating 10X more engineers than the US - BA’s are mostly worthless these days. PhDs are mostly going overseas. Heavy industry cannot get enough engineers to satisfy demand - salaries are 6 figures just to start.
Only by going back to space full time - in a nationally focused way - can this even begin to bring back the skills, education, and industry we had in the 60s - not to mention hope. Good leadership and policies can only go so far. It must be a national endeavor with naysayers taking the hindmost.
They got me down when the killed the original Project Orion - not the farce they are attempting today, hope was abandoned at Apollo 17s end.