Bla Bla..hehehe I understand your points but the loss of manufacturing leads to two problems.
First, there are a great many people that for many reasons just cannot go out and train for the next hot career, be it economic, personal ambition, or just plain not as capable. It has to be better for them to have some outlet to provide for themselves rather than turning to the government, which is what is beginning to happen.
The second problem is that if this country forgets how to make things, we will be able to do little more than run up the white flag if we are engaged militarily by an enemy any more advanced than the sand maggots of the middle east. This type of infrastructure is practically gone and cannot be switch off and on in any short time frame. We are goin to have this problem sooner or later given the fact we like to butt into people's business all around the world.
Personally, I think in many places around the world we are doing nothing more than exploiting people at a level just above slavery. What a terrible legacy to leave for our children.
"I understand your points but the loss of manufacturing leads to two problems."
I'd like to add a third issue...
What do we do with people who, for whatever reasons, are unskilled, untrained, and uneducated (ie, "stupid"). The various union jobs held out hope that such people could make middle-class livings. What does society do now with the increasing number of people that will fall out of the middle class?
Our manufacturing infrastructure is practically gone?