It's a silly premise that the USA will need to suddenly start manufacturing tanks and rifles to fight the next world war. The next world war will be fought with buttons and switches deep in the bunkers of Colorado and Nevada, etc.
Let's hope for humanity that it does not happen.
If you are still worried about conventional warfare, the U.S. still has more military might than the rest of the world put together several times over. Ships, planes, tanks, carriers, you name it and the U.S. has an overwhelming numerical superiority in all those things as well as millions of people trained on how to use them. We have more gear in mothballs alone than the other combined countries have operational in the field.
As well, one of the only good things that has come from the never-ending Middle East wars of the past 12 years is that we now have an entire generation of soldiers and reserve soldiers with battle experience. So just because we find it cheaper to have our gear made overseas doesn't make us weak. Manufacturing isn't rocket science which is why we employ low-skilled laborers overseas to make our things for us. We have the blueprints, the raw materials and the manpower to quickly gear up factories here if circumstances ever dictate we must.
It is a fallacy to believe that since we export our manufacturing that we no long have the ability to do it ourselves. But why would we want to? Manufacturing is now a low-skill job, soon to be done by robots. The low-skill laborers in China and Mexico, etc., are only transitional because within 10 years, almost all manufacturing will be done by robotics. Note: A young person today would be wise to get an engineering degree with a specialty in robotics.
Don't let the Democrats and the labor unions trick you into thinking that the abandoned factories in America is some sort of tragedy. It's a sign of progress. We don't want our children slaving away in grimy union-run factories with smokestacks belching steam and smoke. There's nothing romantic about working in a factory. Next time you hear a Bruce Springsteen song lamenting the closing of some factory or whatnot, remember that Springsteen never worked in a factory so he doesn't know what the hell he is talking about.
I want my children to design the factories of the future and to program the robots who will work there - not work in a factory themselves.
I want my children to design the factories of the future and to program the robots who will work there - not work in a factory themselves.