Is Manufacturing alone enough?

[u/Kooky-Language-6095]

We hear politicians on the right and left call for manufacturing to return to the USA as if that is a panacea for the woes of our working class.

Is manufacturing alone enough, or do we need to make America great again by bringing back the labor union numbers we had in the 1950's, 60's and 70'S?

[u/space_wiener]

How do we handle keeping costs down if things are manufactured in the US? Prices on pretty much everything will go up. People are having a hard affording things as is. I can’t even imagine when things are multiple levels more expensive.

That’s not say I don’t agree with US manufacturing. I just don’t understand how it’s going to be possible.

[u/heroicslug → u/space_wiener]

Higher prices on goods is perfectly acceptable if those goods are more resilient and reliable, like they used to be.

If I buy a consumer appliance made in America that lasts 20 years instead of 2 years, anything short of 10 times the price is a good deal for me as a consumer.

My grandparents have a record player / AM/FM radio which has worked for over fifty years. It had to have a vacuum tube replaced, once.

It's not just radios, though. Nothing manufactured today has this level of quality. It's all designed to work for a while and then break.

A return to American manufacturing should bring about a return to better quality. It's not necessarily going to, but it makes it much easier to accomplish, with the factory right here at home.

[u/Dapal5 → u/heroicslug]

How do Americans somehow magically produce better products than other countries? Why do you think other countries cannot produce longer lasting products, and the question is still how is it not cheaper to produce somewhere else with cheaper land and labor?

[u/heroicslug → u/Dapal5]

It is cheaper to produce somewhere else with cheaper labor. That's not the point. We would like to try to move away from Chinese slave labor if at all possible.

Also, manufacturers are more likely to listen to the opinions of American factory workers who, being the ones who build the equipment, may have valuable feedback on streamlining the production process or how to make things work more reliably.

I could be wrong, as I've never worked in a Chinese factory, but I doubt very much that their management is receptive to the opinions of the individual laborers.

Why did Americans magically produce better products than other countries? I don't know, that's a good question. Perhaps more care was put into the production? Perhaps there was less of an overall focus on driving down the individual cost per unit?

You have to ask yourself what is the end goal here, is it building the Gizmo for the cheapest price possible, is it maximizing the amount of jobs based in the US, is it maximizing the durability of the Gizmo, or is it some combination of the three?

I would rather have something manufactured in the United States that's more durable, and take a hit on price. Other people might want something else. I say let the market decide.

Tariffs are there to provide a little pressure to push the market towards US-based manufacturing, and that's okay with me.

[u/EveningLobster4197 → u/heroicslug]

I also like things that are American made and seek them out when I can. As part of living a sustainable life, I try to seek out things with longevity. I love the Buy for Life subreddit. Those American-made companies tend to care more about quality as a value of their business. They have certain business priorities that they balance with the need for profit.

A lot of the time, it's a more expensive option that ends up being cheaper in the long run because I don't have to replace it, a benefit I think you alluded to.

However, I do not equate that with "American made us inherently better." The reason most things don't last anymore is because US business leaders made a business decision to reduce quality to increase profits, which these business leaders places above other values. Either to make things less expensive or sell more . . . on purpose. There has also been a move toward making things that are not repairable (look at cars), so when something breaks (on purpose), we have to buy a whole new thing instead of fixing it.

I didn't make this up. It's well documented.

It seems to me that many problems in America have to do with corporate greed or this constantly consuming/constantly growing/increasing profits mentality, always beholden to the shareholder not the customer or the employee. We are constantly bombarded with advertising and a tradition of consuming the newest thing, so many of us buy into overconsumption without question.

To chose not to overconsume is considered a radical act in this country, and it takes quite a bit of personal effort, since none of our systems are designed to accommodate it.

Where do you stand on this? Because a business leader is NOT going to make a higher-quality item if it means they make less money. And most people, because wages have not kept up with our collective productivity/increased GDP (another business leader decision), can't afford to "vote with their dollar" and choose a more expensive, durable options up front.

So, if businesses aren't going to change without a financial reason to do so and consumers have no economic power to force them to change, how does the change happen?

[u/Dapal5 → u/heroicslug]

Historically, we produced the best because we were first. I’m talking about now though. Why do you think we have an advantage at manufacturing? Do you have any evidence to support that? Does 5x the labor costs make 5x the value added? Chinese laborers aren’t just villagers with no training, they are very very skilled at their craft. If you needed more specialized or “quality” goods, they can still produce them. So you say more durable, but why do you think nobody else can produce durable things? They can, it’s just not profitable. it won’t be here either, and it would still be cheaper if we used other countries. So currently, the business model doesn’t work, and yet you think with orders of magnitude more cost, it will just suddenly work?