America’s security ultimately hinges on America’s economic prosperity, as well as having a manufacturing base at home.  Wars and defense preparedness cost money.  The manufacturing base—as well as related technological capacity for discovery, and capability for commercialization and sheer output—is, as it always has been, tied directly to military superiority and to the level of deterrence the United States is able to maintain.  In the nineteenth century other countries produced cannonballs “cheaper,” but the manufacturing capability at home proved invaluable in the War of 1812 and again during the Mexican-American War.  The same manufacturing advantage tipped the scale during the War Between the States in favor of the North.  No matter what the economics are, it pays in terms of security to make the right kinds of stuff.  Cotton balls are great but cannonballs make the point more forcefully.  Smoke signals work but computers are faster.  Cinnamon oil is good, but petroleum oil and gasoline work better in most engines—and dependence on foreign sources of energy, carries associated risks that dependence on cinnamon sticks doesn’t. 

 Manufacturing ultimately helped bring us out of the Great Depression, as well as giving us the wherewithal to win World War II.  The “American Century” was defined largely by the second half of the Twentieth Century and made possible by a corresponding “delta” or difference: the fact that the United States enjoyed nearly total lack of destruction on its infrastructure and manufacturing, compared to that of Europe and elsewhere.  We thrived then by recruiting the brightest scientists and engineers and putting them to work in our factories and businesses.  Application of their talent in industry led to new discovery and more commercial development of technology.  The truth is that you can’t innovate or make something better if you don’t at first make something at all. According to Andy Grove, senior adviser to Intel and its former CEO, when you lose millions of manufacturing jobs like the United States has you also break the chain of experience so important in technological evolution. 

 According to a recent CNN Report based on congressional testimony, there is reason today for serious concern. Whereas the United States for the moment retains its military might, the underpinnings in the manufacturing base have largely gone away.  The United States military depends increasingly on parts and products that are no longer made in the USA.  Many of them are not as high quality, and there is a problem with sub-standard parts that put the lives of American soldiers at risk.  “We have allowed our industrial base to deteriorate for the last two to three decades.  As a result, just in national defense terms, our supply lines for strategic parts and materials have been stretched around the world,” says Jeff Faux, founding president and distinguished fellow of the Economic Policy Institute.  Robert Baugh, executive director of the AFL-CIO adds, “As you watch globalization move the manufacturing base offshore, in essence you are [watching] the defense base [move] offshore…, [which] is dangerous.” 

 China’s manufacturing sector likewise is close to surpassing that of the United States.  The value of goods produced last year by China’s factories was $1.6 trillion, compared to $1.7 trillion by U.S. manufacturers.  An eclipse of America’s economy by China will likely be followed by the eclipse of America’s military.  This situation represents a bipartisan challenge and policy imperative to begin to do things much more smartly.  As Rep. John Tierney, a Democrat from Massachusetts says, “It is critical that we focus on modernizing and improving our industrial base to improve our economy, provide better employment opportunities to Americans, and strengthen national security….  We have to start to think strategically about the industrial challenges we face and take aggressive action to fully address them.” 

 Strategically the United States needs far more technology-based thinking and must produce many more opportunities in the manufacturing industries.  The fundamental responsibility of government is the security and physical defense of its lands and people, so the health of manufacturing is key and essential to government’s prime responsibility.  Not every economic calculus the government makes is created equal. We can have the greatest service economy in the world, but the manufacturing sector is necessary to being a great power, much less a superpower.  Even the wealth of other nations in Europe and Asia is made possible by their dependency on the preeminence of America’s military might, which in turn is (or has been until lately) dependent upon an unparalleled manufacturing base at home in the United States.     

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Wesley Allen Riddle is a retired military officer with degrees and honors from West Point and Oxford.  Widely published in the academic and opinion press, he ran for U.S. Congress (TX-District 31) in the 2004 Republican Primary and is currently Chairman of the Central Texas Tea Party.  Email: Wes@WesRiddle.com.