"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?
That's a good point. A lot of people may cringe at some factory guy making $40 - $50k a year, but would they rather have him collecting welfare?