Thursday, July 24, 2025

THE FACTORY

 Every weekday for as long as I lived in our house, my father awoke at 5:30 a.m. to get ready for his 7:00 a.m. shift at THE FACTORY. Occasionally, I would arise before he departed. He would be smoking a cigarette, finishing his last cup of coffee, and reading the newspaper. We wouldn’t talk much since I was interfering with his routine. At some point, he would look at the clock, gather his black lunchbox and Thermos, and be off. He would return around 3:30 each day.

I didn’t know what happened at THE FACTORY until one day my mother explained that my dad made “wheels and brakes for airplanes.” She told me this so I could answer the question if asked by the kids at school or anyone else. My mother was not proud of my father’s job. She had married significantly below her social standing. She probably told people company name, which was highly respected, but was coy about him being a factory worker. I, however, was extremely proud of my father’s vocation. I may not have understood why planes needed wheels, but they needed to stop, and my dad made the brakes to stop them.

I was never inside THE FACTORY, but I did know what it looked like from the outside. Occasionally, in the summer, we would drive by THE FACTORY. My mom challenged me to locate my dad’s car in the crowded parking lot, more than a hundred yards from the highway. I was ecstatic the day I spotted it, and once I knew where he parked, it was easy to do.  


Other than that, I didn’t think much about THE FACTORY, but I should have. It was THE FACTORY that fed me, clothed me, and put the roof over my head. It was THE FACTORY that provided a stable, middle-class existence, allowing me to sleep soundly every night. It was THE FACTORY that paid my college tuition, so, ironically, I never had to work a single day in a factory. THE FACTORY was life-giving – from the day I was born until I moved out at age 22.

Soon after I left, my father retired from THE FACTORY with almost 40 years of service. He earned a gold watch for his time there, an oddity for a factory worker. I still have the watch. I don’t know the intrinsic value. That doesn't matter because it's not for sale at any price.

THE FACTORY was sold to another firm in 1987 to fend off a corporate raider. THE FACTORY had a new owner again in 1996. In 2016, that company closed THE FACTORY, and hundreds of workers lost their jobs. And hundreds of children lost their life-giving force, and didn’t sleep soundly for many nights. After more than 75 years of providing life-giving benefits to thousands of people, THE FACTORY lay dead.

But the demise of THE FACTORY was not unique. U.S. factory employment peaked at 19.5 million workers in 1979 and has declined by 34% to around 12.8 million today. Thousands of factories have been shuttered, while manufacturing continues to flourish around the world. Of course, there are several reasons for the decline, such as productivity gains and technological advancements. But that can’t fully explain a 34% decrease in the U.S., when worldwide manufacturing increased at an estimated 135%.

 

A Resuscitation Attempt

Now, there is an attempt to stop the loss of manufacturing jobs and actually increase the number of factories in the U.S. The critics howl that the jobs are “gone for good” and will never return. Well, the one sure way that will happen is to continue doing nothing. If you continue to sit idly by, that 34% decrease will accelerate as the world's share of manufacturing continues to increase. We have literally "done nothing” for over 30 years, and that has gotten us to this point. This is the best argument for “doing something” that you can find.

That something involves tariffs. Tariffs are criticized as being ineffective and disruptive in every economic textbook. Of course, none of the eggheads writing these textbooks have ever worked in a factory, and few have relied on a factory for income. Politicians scream that tariffs are bad, supported by lobbyist money generated from the importation of cheap goods.

Now we learn that almost every country already imposes its own tariffs against U.S.-made goods. If tariffs are so bad, why are they used so much? You can argue that tariffs contradict the principles of "free trade." However, if no one is following the rules, then there are no rules. You can argue for “fair trade”, but that is also a myth. How is it fair to humanity when many products sold in this country are produced by what is essentially “slave labor”? In a country where we are still grappling with the impact of the plantations, which existed for purely economic reasons, there are descendants of domestic slaves walking our streets wearing shoes made by slaves overseas. How many things are wrong with that picture?  

There is no fair trade because every country is out for its own best interest – it is what seems fair to them. Every country is fighting a trade war. If you choose not to fight, you get slaughtered – and the U.S. was getting decimated.

I’m not interested in all the analyses and commentaries on how these awful tariffs won’t work. Most of these are heavily biased due to the current hyper-politicized culture in which we live. They don’t really matter much at this point, do they? The tariffs have already begun and will either work or fail, regardless of the so-called experts’ opinions. It would be so much better if these gurus would concentrate on how these tariffs might work to our benefit instead of predicting economic calamity.

The tariffs are happening whether you approve of them or not, and it doesn’t matter your political bent. Yes, support our team even if you despise the quarterback.

If you are trying to create more factories in this country – go for it! If you are trying to give opportunities for mothers and fathers to provide better lives for their children - go for it with all your might. If you are mildly successful, it will be worth it. If you are wildly successful, maybe even THE FACTORY could live again.

 

 

 

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4 comments:

  1. Practical and applicable. As I have come to expect from your experience. Thanks.

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  2. Great commentary Don. I agree with you 100%. Like the quarterback or not at least we have a quarterback who has a game plan and knows which direction the goal line is located. And I’m sure he can put on his own pants and tie his shoes.

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  3. Don has hit the nail on the head. Great job. The US machine has been gutted by the educational system at most every level. The concept that "only" a collage degree was acceptable, was wrong. The wholesale export of our technology to other countries may have saved us money in the short term, but wildly wasteful in reality.

    The companies that I have worked for have done their outsourcing drastically different. The one exported all drawings and technical information to off shore manufacturing, now wondering why their product is showing up as knock-off product in the marketplace. The other company decided to manufacture here in the United States, and once the demand was in other countries, exported product, and controlled the technology. Yes, even then, the technology was stolen.

    The US has all the brain trust with regard to innovation, the issue is that we are lazy. Everyone wants a work at home job, which will never work... If you are working at home, think about the times that you take off and go to the store, pick up kids, mow the lawn, etc., this is time theft from the company. Yes,, I did it too. Been there, done that..

    That is why we need to get back to the offices and plants. Put in our days work. Start manufacturing here in the good ole USA. The misguided statement that we are a Service Economy is totally wrong, and shame on my generation for saying so. We need manufacturing. March on, or you will march to another drummer.

    Mark Waltz

    P.S. For those that want to be Anonymous, stick it in your ear... That is what's wrong with generations that do not take responsibility for their actions.

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  4. Mark - great to hear from you. Kurt Wagner here. I am old enough to remember when they taught us you had to make, mine or grow something to grow an economy.

    It’s not that we don’t need people in the service sector, I have a son that’s an Army doctor. Still, thank heaven nobody listened to middle class Joe, AI has turned learning to code into good training for being a barista.

    However, AI is putting lots of other jobs at risk. Those who can weld, plumb or make the lights turn on have a much more secure future.

    Yesterday, I had a Fortune 100 customer visit our factory yesterday. They are building a new factory in the US. They currently have 1 in China. However, their plan was to import the parts my company would make from the same company that makes those parts in China. 47’s trade negotiations has caused them to rethink maybe they should consider buying those parts domestically.

    Back to the impact of AI, lots of people will be getting displaced by AI and automation. We have 20 welding robots in our shop here in Central IL. Everyone of them has a certified welder in front of it. Someday, maybe sooner than I think, but still well into the future, we’ll be able to make things lights out. Yet having a robot pull up to your house and replace the wax seal on your leaking toilet is farther into the future.

    I think 47 was right on tariffs (start high and negotiate the best deals available using your twitchy eye to keep them on their toes). Also, I would counsel most HS kids today to learn a trade.

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