It's not a matter of our not being economically capable of fixing such problems. It's about being politically capable. The fact is, fixing the underclass is against Democrat interests. They need an underclass (and victim classes in general) to justify their existence. That's why they consistently block efforts to promote economic growth.
But there were also plenty of available jobs you could do while making the transition from one trade to another. Now, if someone had to switch from one job to learning an entirely new trade for a different job, those types of jobs they can do in the meantime are all gone and we don’t have the economic capabilities to bring those jobs back. So now, those who would have to learn a new trade would have zero means of income while they made the transition. Until we can deal with this issue properly, at this point even rapid expansions of technology should not be celebrated. Because with our economy in the shambles it is, and given what we are as a nation not prepared to do, it will lead to millions more Americans being burdens on the economy at least temporarily.