40 Years of Manufacturing Decline Was by Design

When the United States made a conscious decision to switch from producing goods to serving others, we were warned that eventually, all we would be good for is serving others. The long, slow decline of America is the result. We lost jobs, despite having far more people in the country. We became a white-collar country and lost the red-blooded, blue-collar workers that we need. It has been forty years of failure.

It was by design. We were warned of the inevitable changes and the negative effect they would have, but the politicians shaped it and could not be stopped.

Finally, someone is pointing it out.

Anduril Founder Palmer Luckey recently spoke about the decline of U.S. manufacturing:

“I’m going to sound like conspiracy theorists, the elites,” Luckey said. “The elites decided that they were going to reform the United States in the image of what they wanted. They wanted us to move higher on the value chain. They said, We’re going to more higher value; we’re going to get away from the making, and into the design. We’re going to make more music and more design and more services, and we’re going to become a service economy. We’re going to move away from things like textiles and chemicals, and metals. And the idea was that in a globalized, peaceful world with no conflict, that moving the things that were of lower value to other people would result in a more prosperous nation.”

The US intentionally shifted away from manufacturing to a “higher value” service economy. It gave China Immense power and now threatens our geopolitical order.

Palmer believes the U.S. needs to recognize these threats to the “American way of life” and restore its industrial base.

“Reindustrialization is really about recognizing that your own destiny doesn’t have a value that can be measured in dollars,” Luckey said.

Anduril Founder @PalmerLuckey on the Decline of U.S. Manufacturing:

“I’m gonna sound like a conspiracy theorist…

It wasn’t an accident or a failure, it was a decision by the elites.”

Palmer Luckey explains how the U.S. intentionally shifted away from manufacturing to a… pic.twitter.com/2RWQaIQbeJ

— Anduril Appreciator (@A1Anduril) December 14, 2025

The Elites Are Pushing Us Off a Cliff

The USA shifted from manufacturing to a service industry in the 1970s, driven by globalization, demographic shifts, and technological advancements. It’s almost as if they knew they would dramatically change demographics to meet their vision of globalization and advanced technology.

In June 1979, manufacturing employment peaked at 19.6 million. By June 2019, it had fallen to 12.8 million, a drop of 6.8 million or 35 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics (CES) program.

Since 1979, employment declined during each of the five recessions, and in every case, it never fully recovered to pre-recession levels. Before the US transitioned, it had fully recovered.

An article at the US Bureau of Statistics examines overall employment trends in manufacturing over the past 40 years, as well as shifts in specific industries most affected, such as fabricated metals, machinery, computer and electrical products, and apparel and textiles. Data are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics (CES) program.

In the four decades since manufacturing employment reached its peak, the industry has struggled to regain its former prominence. Significant job losses occurred in durable goods manufacturing, especially in fabricated metals, machinery, and computer and electrical products. Among nondurable goods manufacturing, the apparel and textile industries suffered drastic job losses, while food manufacturing was the only segment to add jobs. Over the 40 years before the peak, manufacturing employment failed to fully recover from any of the cyclical declines following June 1979, resulting in a cumulative net loss of 34 percent.

We gave it all away to China.