![Intricate scene of an iron foundry, by Alfred H. Vaughn, (date unknown) [CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication]](https://i0.wp.com/boingboing.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/factory.jpg?fit=1&quality=60&ssl=1&resize=620%2C4000)
Manufacturing veteran Molson Hart just dropped a 14-point manifesto explaining why America's latest "bring the jobs home" scheme is economic suicide dressed up as patriotism.
The problems? Pour yourself something strong — there are fourteen of them. America's supply chains are weaker than a gas station coffee, our workforce can't do basic math, and our infrastructure makes a Jenga tower look stable. That's three down, eleven more problems to go.
Problem number 4: We've literally forgotten how to make things. Like, basic things. If that's not enough to convince you, read the essay to learn what the other 10 problems are.
"But robots!" you say. "Red-blooded Murican robots will build everything we need, right here in the homeland!"
While Americans were filling their Amazon carts with Chinese-made everything, China was busy building an army of industrial robots — seven times larger than ours. So much for that dream, Which is beginning to sound about as realistic as my plan to become a unicorn rancher.
The kicker? These tariffs are so poorly designed, they're actually making it MORE expensive to manufacture in America. It's like trying to help someone walk by breaking their legs and stealing their crutches.
Unless we change course pronto, we're about to discover what happens when magical thinking meets economic reality. Spoiler alert: Reality wins every time.
Previously:
• Watch MAGA vendor's excitement fade as he learns how Trump's tariffs affect his business
• Tom the Dancing Bug: A Calvinesque and Hobbesian look at tariffs
• Trump frantically backpedals with 'pause' on idiotic tariffs
• How Trump's tariff wall will punish small American businesses, kill US jobs, and benefit giant mulitnationals
• Trump crows about champagne tariffs while stocks plunge yet again
• Trump's proposed tariffs will make game consoles more expensive
• Ferris Bueller's teacher schools Trump on tariffs
• Coincidence? Unusual options activity before Trump's tariff reversal
