The era of "high paying, unskilled jobs" only lasted from the late 1940s until the early 1970s. This was a period when Europe and Asia had to reindustrialize, giving American workers (and companies) near monopolies on key industries. The folks in management had to buy off labor peace.
Besides, industrial employment has declined EVERYWHERE thanks to improvements in technology, even in CHINA.
Fourty years ago, my family lived in row houses, had one car and could barely afford to eat out once a month. They had "good paying factory jobs." Today, everyone in my family, even the minority without a college degree, has a nice home, at least two cars, and a higher standard of living than their parents/grandparents.
Brazil is a poor example, as it does NOT have a laissez faire capitalist system. It is more socialistic than the U.S. and even Canada. Actually, "corporatavist" would be a better word.
BTW: I have worked in France, and the blue collar French workers are some of the fattest, laziest people I have ever met.
So, you WANT to live in a third-world country with third-world wages?
You WANT to live behind the walls of a gated community with 24/7 armed guards as my relatives in Brazil, or as my parents did for a few years in Manila?
You WANT to worry about you or your family being kidnapped for ransom as the rich are south of the Rio Grande?
Take every middle-class suburb in your area, and imagine it as the ghetto. Entire metro areas as Compton. You want to live in that kind of a country?
Screw that, YOU get a clue.