Tell me in what "one respect [it] borders on the absurd"?
Does the desire to retain high-paying jobs in America border on the absurd? Or perhaps it is absurd to wish to preserve an American middle class. Is the absurdity contained in the desire to retain our standard of living? Maybe it is absurd to want to avoid embracing the communist model of distribution.
In the exact sense that I described. People in the IT industry were doing extremely well throughout the 1990s. New technology being developed. New capacity being built. New companies being started by the hour.
Now that all that new technology, that new capacity, and those new companies are in place, there is no reason to be surprised when they are put to use.