our standard of living has risen greatly since the 1970s becasue of technology.
and as for those manufacturing jobs, well we've been losing them since 1978, that was the peak year. And guess what the entire world is losing manufacturing jobs, not just the US but Canada, UK, Germany, France, Japan and yes even China.
Manufacturing productive growth is something like 5-7% per year, but demand for manufactured goods rise at only 3-4% per year, so naturally jobs must disappear.
Manufacturing is what farming was in the early 20th century. Farming output has risen even has employment has fallen someething like 90%. Same thing will happen in manufacturing and is happening. It cannot be reversed without a steep reduction in the worlds living standards.
There were Luddites back in the early 1900s, William Jennings Bryan was one, who insisted, much like some here, that if jobs were lost in farming, America would be lost forever.
Nobody here is arguing that jobs lost through productivity and technology are the problem. Actually they are a great thing. But, rather the wholesale transfer of entire industries (think furniture) overseas, particularly to China.
Manufacturing had been (and still is in isolated pockets) the ticket to the middle class in America. Currently however we have a government that sets disincentives to produce in this country and sets incentives to produce overseas -that is the problem.
The problems can be further distilled down to our disastrous relationship with the Chinese and the fact that the Bush admin seems to be willing to do nothing more than send a cabinet official over every few months to complain into the wind.