I watched The Andy Griffith Show as a kid, like a lot of folks did. Mayberry was funny, wholesome, safe. It made the world seem simpler than it was. I didn’t think much about it back then.
But now I know: Mayberry was never real.
There were no factories in Mayberry. No unions. No working-class grit. No race. No rent hikes. No problems that couldn’t be solved with a wink and a walk down Main Street. It was a comforting story about America—not the truth.
Which brings me to today’s political speeches, where the word “manufacturing” gets tossed around like a magic spell. Just say it enough times, and suddenly we’re all back in the glory days—steel in the ground, lunch pails on the line, and flags flapping over every factory gate.
But let’s stop pretending.
We’re not rebuilding Mayberry.
And we’re not getting back the Detroit we once had.
Detroit was real. It was loud, sweaty, union-built, and working-class strong. It built our cars, our tanks, our middle class. It also got hollowed out—offshored, downsized, and written off in favor of quarterly profits and cheap overseas labor.
In those so-called good old days, about a third of American workers were in manufacturing. Today, it’s less than 8%. Even if we add the 1.9 million manufacturing jobs projected by 2033, we still won’t come close to what we once had.
But that’s not a tragedy—it’s reality.
Factories today aren’t powered by brawn. They’re powered by automation, data, and high-tech machines. What used to take ten workers now takes two techs and a robot that doesn’t take breaks or file grievances.
Still, here come the slogans:
- “Made in America.”
“Bring the jobs home.”
“Rebuild the heartland.”
And yes—before someone shouts it from the cheap seats—the price of goods will go up.
That’s what happens when you pay people a living wage, give them a lunch break, and don’t let them lose a finger every third shift.
Cheap goods come from cheap labor. Always have.
If we want dignity in our economy, we have to be willing to pay for it.
All fine things to say—but here’s what they’re not saying: even if you build it here, you still need what we don’t have.
- We import 30% of our steel.
- We import 45% of our aluminum.
- China refines 85% of the world’s rare earth minerals—try building a battery or a fighter jet without those.
So yes, bring back manufacturing. But be honest about what that means.
We don’t need to make everything—we need to make the right things:
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Chips for our tech and defense.
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Pharmaceuticals for public health.
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EV batteries for economic survival.
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Military-grade components for national security.
And the rest? The plastic forks, $12 coffee makers, and dollar-store patio lights?
Let ’em sail in from somewhere else.
We don’t need nostalgia. We need strategy.
And we sure as heck don’t need another politician selling Mayberry while the industrial heartland fights to stay afloat.
So no—we’re not going back.
We’re not bringing back the 1950s.
And for a lot of people—Black, brown, immigrant, poor—those days weren’t so golden anyway.
Let’s stop lying to ourselves.
Let’s build something better. Smarter. Fairer. Real.
Detroit was real. Let’s honor that with truth, not reruns.