But after a few decades of systematic dismantling by the Marxist deep state, with help from greedy, short-sighted politicians looking to make money off America's decline, today's manufacturing capacity is a shell of what it was in the 1940s and 1950s.
And today, that decline continues, as evidenced by the closure of a major steel foundry in Portland, Ore.
As reported by Oregon Live, the foundry has been in steady operation for 121 years and now it will close, laying off all of its skilled workers without a replacement plant even being planned much less being built.
The outlet noted:
Columbia Steel Casting Co., a Portland metal casting company that dates back more than a century, told state regulators Wednesday it plans to shut down operations at its North Portland foundry and lay off most of its workforce.
The company said 225 employees, many represented by two different unions, would be laid off beginning in October. The filing indicated the closure would be permanent. A letter to employees indicated that the company had sought a buyer to take over the foundry and maintain operations, but those efforts had failed so far.
CEO Martha Cox told employees that the company had faced fierce competition from overseas competitors, some of them subsidized by their governments. Cox said state and local environmental regulations had also put the company at a disadvantage to those competitors.
In other words, the left-wing Democrat lunatics who run that state adopted so many foolish and restrictive 'environmental' rules it made operating the plant economically impossible. And now, the plant will close, having negative implications for our entire country, not just the unfortunate workers who are losing their jobs. Hopefully Oregonians will remember this outrage in November, though based on that state's voting history, it's not likely to change anytime soon.
“We just couldn’t produce at a sustainable level,” Cox said in an interview. “It had been difficult for a number of years when China and India and Malaysia can sell parts for far less than the cost that we can manufacture them here.”
But it's not just far-left rules that killed this plant, it's far-left culture.
After struggling for years, the plant was faced with massive shortages of materials thanks to the idiocy of shutting down the global supply chain due to COVID-19. Also, the hard left's push for Americans to incur tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt earning a worthless college degree is at fault as well; Cox said the foundry struggled mightily to hire and then retain workers, even after giving substantial raises, because there aren't enough young people learning appropriate job skills in vocational schools.
“It’s hard to find skilled or even unskilled workers of any kind,” she said. “There just aren’t people, it feels like."
Cox, who is obviously losing her job too, said that full operations would cease by the end of the year, and that a small number of employees would remain on at the foundry to wind down production and prepare the plant for closure. Expect some lunatic 'green' group to file an environmental lawsuit demanding the company spend millions more it doesn't have to 'clean up' the site.
"Columbia Steel was founded in 1901 and claims to be the first steel foundry in the Northwest. It manufactured industrial parts, specializing in high-wear components that need to be replaced from time to time because of grinding, impact or heat. Those parts are used in industries that include mining, power plants, cement manufacturing and metal recycling," Oregon Live reported.
"The company has been owned and operated for generations by the descendants of Hobart M. Bird, who started as a foundry worker for the company. Cox is the founder’s granddaughter," the outlet added.
Our country is slowly being destroyed by the hard left, and if enough Americans don't start getting off their duffs and fighting back at the polls, there won't be anything left to salvage.
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