First, you should really read dolfin66's diary, which provided the intersection of the main topics of my title. My comment there is slightly expanded here. That diary is far wider in scope, and more practical and thoughtful, too. So, thanks dolfin66, for the inspiration!
When I was a mere tot in the late 60's, I made my first visit to our extended family in Germany, all of whom owned VW Beetles. In fact, it seemed, so did the entire population, as the autobahnen were an almost surreal, non-stop parade of multicolored gumdrop-like cars, madly speeding along, with the occasional Mercedes and Audi mixed in. The entire working class there was essentially made mobile by the Beetle - the German post-war version of our Model-T.
Historical Irony Pause - Hitler's sly savings scheme pitch for selling the "People's Car" to the masses first helped to finance the Nazi war machine (see Volkswagen wiki), only to have the falsely promised model of revolutionary automotive transportation rise, Phoenix-like, and indeed empower the vast, and mostly rural population to leave their motorcycles in the barn. The fact that, basically, the identical car went on to become the first (very cleverly and cerebrally advertised) foreign model to capture a healthy chunk of the wealthy U.S. market - giving Americans a taste of simplicity and efficiency in design and packaging - boggles the mind. This development must also be viewed as a prerequisite to the Japanese manufacturers' huge inroads only a generation later. (Disclaimer: I'm a former '66 1300 Beetle owner and my wife still loves (and refuses to relinquish) her '85 Honda Accord)
So, then, what exactly is the relevance of the "intro" to anything bordering on original thought? Well, it struck me that still, to this day, I read descriptions of the successful symbiotic relationship between unionized labor and management in the German auto industry. Workers earn a very good wage, while CEOs and managers are well paid, but not to the ludicrous degree as here. Somehow, the Germans have maintained the understanding that each needs the other, and that trying to relentlessly take advantage of the other team - in the long run - actually hurts BOTH groups. I realize there is friction, but the resilience of the German labor/management/economic model warrants attention.
In the U.S., nobody is "in it together". Management and labor continuously face off and describe the opposing position as untenable, and downright un-American. Reminds me of two political parties whose names escape me at the moment.
I know the Asian manufacturers' plants in the U.S. are non-union, and I think the European ones are, too. The fact that any manufacturing job can still provide a decent living is something that should definitely be applauded. I would be very curious to see the "actual wage" trends at these plants since they've arrived - and their turnover rate, esp. as compared to the traditional domestic plants.
Designing, creating and manufacturing actual, real-world products is something I truly admire. I personally love working with my hands. Driving a car which you fully maintain is a delight that few other endeavors offer, at least to me, and is as close to producing anything as I get. The repugnant diminishing of adequate wages for skilled labor, and a steady flow of exploitative legislation that favors escalating corporate profits over the most basic safety concerns does not bode well for the future of the working man or woman.
I'm afraid even if an industry is making products for capturing energy from solar, steam, waves or lightning - the attitude toward manufacturing/labor and the realities of cheap, short-term worker availability somewhere else in the world virtually dooms the effort from the start.
If our legislators and representatives had a backbone, some vision, and the will to say, "Our workers are getting scr*wed because other nations' workers are horribly exploited", this could be changed. Don't import the products - of course a "quarantine" is an admittedly overly simplistic solution.
Instead we have a domestic "disgruntled" population fighting each other over the speed at which we should eliminate taxes in order to tear down the few social services remaining, which in the absence of actual jobs, health care coverage and pensions, is about the only thing the rank and file have left to lose.
After that transpires - you sorta wonder how an uprising is not inevitable.