Domisoldo:
It's interesting that you should mention Boeing. Just for the sake of example, since the first 707s were being bought up by the world's airlines I worked with programmers, engineers, and machinists who worked for Boeing at one or more times. This also includes family members.
Because of the boom-or-bust management of that particular company I don't think I've ever heard any previous employees speak kindly about Boeing. They all act like brides left at the alter. Earlier in the late 1950s and through the 1960s France built some amazing long-haul passenger jet aircraft, but could never quite compete with Boeing. However, it was flaming obvious when the first Airbuses started flying that Boeing had some real competition. I remember the shock of climbing aboard a new Airbus run by SAETA (an airline that no longer exists) for a flight from Miami to Guayaquil, Ecuador. The seats were ergonomically better designed and the idea of personal entertainment centers on the back of the seat in front of you was outrageously novel. They had intercontinental range, but weren't much bigger than a Boeing 737. A much more comfortable passenger jet than a 737.
Still, Boeing won with their marketing and discounting to stay ahead as the world leader in passenger jets. Considering the general unhappiness/surliness of its employees it's amazing Boeing hasn't had more problems with their aircraft because, as I mentioned earlier, all the employees who were loyal to that company were regularly laid off to live on Spaghetti-Os and sure were cranky and not very enthusiastic about having worked for that company.
I also knew just about as many machinists, programmers, and managers who had once worked for McDonnel Douglas -- people who still insisted that DC10s were safer than 747s. And remember Lockheed 1011s? I think UPS still flies the largest fleet of DC10s that are airworthy. In the early 1980s it was common to see bumper stickers on cars in Long Beach that announced, "I'm Proud to Have Worked on the DC10!" However, because of budgets dictating design, the redundancy of those DC10s was compromised by channeling all of the main hydraulics along side one another down the length of the plane. And there was that one time a bolt came loose causing an engine to drop off a wing and sort of proved that a DC10 could not really take off with only two of its three engines.
Anyway, the Boeing of yesteryear no longer exists -- for good or bad. The electronics and wire harnesses are initially produced in China. Tail rudders are jobbed out to other Pacific Rim companies, and all the retrofitted electronics such as individual plasma TV screens for the passenger seats as well as the passenger seats, themselves, are jobbed out to foreign companies. It would take a lot to rebuild the USA's old electronic manufacturing infrastructure. And soon, you'll be enjoying the privilege of flying in equipment made exclusively in China.
Still, Boeing won't die for a couple of decades. They have been able to re-invent the 747 into so many different flavors that it's still the favorite jumbo jet around the world -- until Airbus refines and can assure the same safety record for the Airbus800s. Unfortunately, like our family's trusty old Packard/Bell color TV, electronics are not manufactured in the USA any more. I bought the last TV still manufactured in the USA back in 1982. It was a flat screen Sylvania that had a sticker on the back that proudly shouted "Assembled in the USA!" Note the emphasis on "assembled." The heart and soul of the thing was a hybrid of Mexican and Taiwanese technology.
COmountainguy's question is not unreasonable. And I can sympathize with where his patriotism lies. But to answer his question, I can't see blaming the current state of the USA's economy on leftist progressives, though they aren't free of sin. However, I clearly remember the first volleys by conservatives to "open" our markets to international free trade zones, the popularity in the 1970s to "break" unions, and I also remember the beginning of the end of government regulation starting with the Great Communicator -- President Reagan. Anti regulation is still a conservative battle cry and the poor assholes cannot see what damage it has already caused.
I'm afraid Hamburger and Tuna Helper, Macaroni and Cheese, SPAM, and BeanyWeenie are to become, as they were in the mid 1970s, the staples of 'Mericuhn home cookin' for many years to come. Remember, it's never too late to start collecting hotdish recipes, or what the sweet spirits who live in Ewetaw call casseroles. Also, more Crockpots were sold during the last quarter of 2010 since the mid 1970s when they were first introduced. Think about it. Do you know of any better way to assure that squirrel cooks tender and tasty?
