President Trump envisions reviving U.S. industry through tariffs, but this view misinterprets the reality of American industrial decline. History shows that the industrial boom relied on factory jobs that often led to poverty rather than prosperity. Local economies, like New Bedford, were once thriving but have since suffered from job outsourcing to overseas markets. Understanding historical contexts and labor conditionsâlike the demanding labor in early American factoriesâcan inform better policy approaches to industrial revitalization, emphasizing that a nostalgic view of the past does not reflect the complexities of industrial labor.
Only understanding the true story of American industrialization will allow for formulating good policy today.
The idea of stable industrial prosperity would've shocked America's Founders, who tended to see manufacturing as less a harbinger of wealth than an adjunct of poverty.
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