"Technology has no future? Somebody must have really peed in your oatmeal. Part of a dot.com startup?"

How many times do I have to tell you what my trade is before you listen, Tom ;-)

Yes, nobody knows what the future holds

Yes, change happens, athings get better yadayadayada

But at the end of the day:
It was obvious in the 80's that heavy manufacturing was dying as the soul of the middle class. It was obvious by the late 80's that tech was the future middle class job. Its obvious now that, without any protection or incentive from governm, etc, that nothing a programmer in the US can do can't be done cheaper by someone elsewhere.

But unlike the 80's, at this time nobody can point to anything credible as a replacement.

Enginmeers, dcotors, lawyers are sfae- as things will always need to be built, heald or sued right here in the US. But everyone else?

My point remains that the self interest of the corporate structure is no longer the self interest of the nation-state- as it used to be before globalization. What used to be good for the goose is no longer good for the gander.

"labor without capital and brains isn't worth a lot"

Capital and brains without labor is worth exactly nothing.

""American labor" doesn't design cars. The guys in the white collars with the engineering degrees design the cars."

Oh, really? white-collar American engineers are not american labor? Funny that. Or do you think american labor only means the guy at the assembly line?

" Incidentally, I bet I've known a few more CEOs than you have"

I doubt this. Very much.

Davin L.