Point taken . I ' ll rephrase . Don ' t tell me you actually think you can convert every lost bluecollar job to a ~~ whitecollar ~~ manage the process job . And please , drop the you would rather do jack and you think we should all major in BS fluff studies crap . I do not think that nothing can be done , nor do I think we should all major in victimization studies . For someone who probably hates safe spaces , you sure act like those people when you get challenged . In 1980 , we needed about 25 people to generate $ 1 million in output . avenue 20161121 w h y t r u m p s f a c t o r y j o b p r o miseswontpanoutinonechart Now , we only need 6 people to generate the same amount , holding constant inflation . So in nominal terms , we are producing way more than we used with far fewer people . 6 people is not 0 people . Obviously people still work in manufacturing . But 6 people isn ' t 25 people either . You have to accept the reality that we do not need as many people to produce the same amount of output as we used to .