One other point:

"If you do not put [your_country] F*I*R*S*T, in every single thing that you negotiate ... nobody else on Earth ever will."

And, after all, why should they? They have their own countries to attend to.

The old airline flight-magazine ads definitely had it right: "You don't get what you deserve – you get what you negotiate." But you must never entirely give up your own position as you do so. Never trust your negotiating partner that much.

But – "we did."

From my POV, sundialsvcs, I think you are grasping at straws. Considering the number of startups just in Aerospace and support industries, I severely doubt the US will lack for wrenches and screwdrivers. Your example of the guy who wanted to make shoes doesn't seem to take into account location since all of the required goods are certainly available somewhere fairly nearby. Plus, just as in WWII, we learned that re-purposing didn't take long at all.

US Steel is still in business and thriving. Here's a blurb from Wikipedia
While it would likely be somewhat better if more industry still existed within US Borders, the situation is by no means dire, and given advances in a vast number of areas (Obama instigated research in several areas such as new alloys and processes) the net result is the US is greater than it has ever been. It certainly would be vastly better absent the ridiculous political divide created by the hysterical freakouts of MAGA. That certainly has not made the country stronger. I will celebrate the day that the Republican Party dumps Trump and all the MAGA religious nonsense and hypocrisy and gets back to traditional Conservative values and actually starts living up to their oaths to serve the Constitution in more than twisted lip service.

These are obvious facts.
He promised that last time too.

"You can't get fooled again." George W. Bush, Nashville 2002.
There are many factors in play there on both sides of politics, but you didn't answer my question from before: Precisely what do you think Mr. Trump will do to change this?

Yes, and the exact same can be said for most 'Westernised' countries.

The Australian government ceased subsidising the local car industry 8 or 9 years ago. Instead of reforming or trying to reposition themselves in the market, General Motors, Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi (who were all manufacturing cars here, using domestic supplies & suppliers) all chose to close their factories.

GM don't even bother to sell cars here at all any more. Corporate greed, yes?
This needs to be said louder.

Mr. Trump is not a Conservative by any definition of the word.

I will not continue to press my point beyond this final comment. I believe that, today, many nations are soberly beginning to realize that "there are proper limits" to 'international' relationships." However, the USA and the EU might just be the last to learn.

While "international trade" is fundamental for a wide variety of [physical ...] reasons, "autonomy" and (if need be ...) "self-sufficiency" is equally vital.

A fundamental characteristic of any "distributed" engineering model is: "redundancy." What is a robot supposed to do if it is suddenly cut off from its network connection, or if it can no longer trust what it is hearing? (I believe that Isaac Asimov spoke of this concern, in the beginnings of his "Second Foundation.")

What if you are "suddenly cut off" from the entire international import/export system, other than those that you can timely develop for yourself? Never mind "Russia." What about the United States?

And(!): What if you couldn't "imperiously ignore the game," because you didn't control it [anymore]? What if this was suddenly a grave question? Will you seriously be able to tell your constituents that "you had no idea?" #include chamberlain

It would, indeed, be "a wonderful world" if everyone could trust everyone else and "the lowest price always wins" and so on. Why bother to build your own [wrench], if "someone in [Indonesia]" can be trusted to construct it "for a few pennies less," and you will always be able to get however-many thousands of copies of it and ... "what could possibly go wrong?"

"Redundancy." Self-preservation. Prudence. Resilience. ... "Fault Tolerance." Where did these terms go?

"MAGA" is not an acronym.

And: "everything does not always go according to plan." Remember that the Trojans never suspected a thing.

Again, you keep avoiding the question. Precisely how will Mr. Trump change that?

Answer: He won't. He will enrich himself and his friends while laughing at you, his supporters.

Given the fact that Biden willfully commits crimes I find it odd that he has not been impeached by the Republican led Congress. The Republicans have investigated Biden for 15 months.
Question: Why doesn't Speaker Johnson call for the impeachment of President Biden?
Answer: They either don't have the votes to do it or they have insufficient evidence.

I am not the slightest bit surprised. Didn't you ever watch any episode of The Godfather?

All of them. I think the GOP is more analogous to a clown posse than the mob.

Funny you should mention the Mafia.

In 1987, when the government of NSW was choosing an operator for a new casino in Sydney they received a bid from Donald Trump.

The minutes of the Cabinet meetings are released to the public after 30 years. In 2017, the 1987 meeting minutes were released.

This is what was said about Mr. Trump, on the record, at those meetings:

"The Police Board considers ... Kern/Trump to be unacceptable"

"Atlantic City would be a dubious model for Sydney and in our judgement, the Trump Mafia connections should exclude the Kern/Trump consortium."

These are type-written records, available for viewing at the NSW State Library.

Not easy to find online, but I did find a copy here: https://antinuclear.net/2017/12/29/i...ial-viability/

Of course, he's too grimy for the Mafia these days: https://www.ft.com/content/aa383026-...e-075c2a248fc9

Interesting. More interesting, that the MAGA Republican administration (Under POTUS #45) did nothing to bring manufacturing back into the country, yet the current Demcratic administration is successfully bringing several industries back home. Fascists chant a good line and have powerful slogans, but they seem only to crave power without improving anything.

You cannot simply look at "an administration" to miraculously achieve this kind of fundamental change in the brief four-years that is allotted to each one. Especially since the downward spiral of foolish decisions has been happening for a generation. In the American system of governance, "true power" is assigned to the US Congress and to the various State Legislatures. But also, to the determination and vision of the people themselves.

"Make [America|my_country] Great Again" is an ideal. It is a goal, not a slogan. It is a recognition of the degree to which "any one sovereign nation" should – and, should not – be dependent on others. It is a recognition of the need for redundancy, and "Plan B." In the case of the USA, it is also a realization of just how far "wrong" we have gone, and for how long.

However – it is a very-crucial strategy for any nation. Because: "if you do not put [your_nation] first," in everything that you do and in everything that you negotiate, "of course, nobody else on Earth ever will." (Why should they? They've got their own nation to "put first.")

We cannot look just to "any President," including a very-charismatic one like Donald Trump, to change this situation. And we certainly cannot expect it to magically happen within "four or even eight years." By careful design, the actual powers of the President are mostly symbolic.

More than fifty years ago, "Ike" Eisenhower saw this coming. Even though he could not have foreseen that we would "outsource" our entire "Arsenal" to ... our enemies. There is no "one single person" who can perform any miracle to "fix this." It will take time, vision, and concerted effort.

I think we need a citation, some actual evidence, that the US has "outsourced our entire Arsenal to ... our enemies". Incidentally, what Ike warned us about was the encroachment of "The Military-Industrial Complex" on government, increasing the power of the ultra elite at the expense of the working class. Judging by who pays the most tax revenue (and who gets away with little or none) , I think he was right, and it is the modern Republican Party that has paved the way.

http://i.imgur.com/VTnhZ5D.jpg

How many artillery shells can Russia produce and ship to the front lines? How many can NATO? Similar examples abound.

The USA and the EU have both sacrificed their domestic, general industrial/production capabilities in favor of "cheaper" imports. When the demand for primary products was suddenly replaced by "China," an entire web of supporting industries also died off. And, you cannot now "snap your fingers" and get those things back.

And, as "Ike" foresaw, "the military industrial complex" would become an all-consuming cancer of its own. Fueled by "##CLASSIFIED##" spending, pursuing "##CLASSIFIED##" projects, and generally painting a rosy but "##CLASSIFIED##" picture of "War, itself." And, as long as the industry could repeatedly "suggest 'War'" without actually wholesale "engaging in the real thing," there were tons of money to be made. So much "money," in fact, that it would subsume everything else. As it now has.

It's one thing to allow a competitor to offer a "cheaper wrench." But, it's entirely another thing when you allow this to result in your own inability to supply yourself(!) with "a wrench." But, in a very broad spectrum of things, that is precisely what we have done.

And, if you step back and look at the bigger – sometimes, very nasty – "global historical picture," the always-prophetic words of Sun Tzu come to mind.

"The Government of Troy eagerly announces its 'new strategic partnership' with Greece ... particularly emphasizing the production of wooden religious structures."

You overestimate the capabilities of Russia and underestimate the capabilities of NATO. Mr. Putin is constantly speaking out against his neighbours joining NATO, and that is for a reason.
The situation is not nearly as dire as you paint it to be: https://www.safeguardglobal.com/reso...he-world-2023/

In the top 10 manufacturing countries, the US is second, 3 of the rest are in the EU, and then the UK is in there too.

Putting this into proportion, your country has 4% of the world's population, and does 17% of the world's manufacturing.

The single reason that China has become the world's factory (at nearly 30% of global manufacturing) is corporate greed. You know this is true.
Hmm. I wonder where Mr. Trump is getting his sneakers made?

Answer: All we know is that Mr. Trump is not giving anyone a straight answer about where the sneakers are being made. You can draw your own conclusions from that.
I find it funny to hear an American complaining about wrenches.

Over here, some of the best quality hand tools currently available are made by Snap-On. Do you know where those are made?