Epoch Times - Can America Become a Manufacturing Superpower Again? | John Gardner
Aired: 2025-10-13
Duration: 01:55


=== The Cost of Free Trade (01:54) ===

[00:00:00]  What was the cost of free trade?
[00:00:01]  America lost its human capital.
[00:00:03]  And if you want to understand the value of human capital is Germany and Japan devastated post-World War II, very industrial societies.
[00:00:14]  The Marshall Plan for Germany built their economy up again because they had the human capital, the knowledge to rebuild the manufacturing industry there.
[00:00:24]  You know, if they had a bunch of lawyers and accountants and no manufacturers, they probably wouldn't be a top five world economy after World War II.
[00:00:30]  The cultural perception of the manufacturing industry has to be changed by government marketing.
[00:00:38]  The government marketed for COVID and monkeypox awareness.
[00:00:41]  I think every high schooler in America should read my book.
[00:00:44]  I wrote it for them.
[00:00:45]  I wrote it to let them know there's another pathway.
[00:00:48]  There's another choice on the menu of life besides go to college, get 60 grand in debt, don't start earning money for five years after high school, go get a low-paid internship.
[00:00:59]  I think there should be an economic study where if you get involved in the manufacturing industry, I know 18, 19 year old guys making 50, 60 grand in the manufacturing industry, running half a million dollar machines, make another 10 or 20 grand a year doing overtime, no college debt.
[00:01:18]  How does these lives look different in 30 years as opposed to getting a communications degree and working as an intern?
[00:01:28]  And it's really interesting.
[00:01:29]  50% of Americans with a college degree enter the workforce at a high school labor level.
[00:01:38]  So I find that the degreed class is oversaturated.
[00:01:42]  There's too many cooks, chefs, head chefs.
[00:01:43]  Everybody wants to be Gordon Ramsey.
[00:01:44]  Too many Gordon Ramseys in the kitchen and not enough sous chefs and line cooks and dishwashers.
[00:01:50]  And we need to start to build the manufacturing industry up in our culture.