I’ve recently been contemplating the deepening partisan divide in America and what it means for our national identity going forward. Donald Trump has promoted protectionism as an effective way to revitalize that identity. Protectionism is a type of economic policy focused on protecting domestic industries through imposing tariffs on foreign exports.
His approach should be seen as the wrong solution to the right problem.
Stay with me here.
Both major wings of American politics need to take a long overdue look in the mirror. The polling service Gallup runs a monthly poll, asking Americans to answer whether or not they’re satisfied with the country’s direction.
The percent expressing satisfaction has not eclipsed 40% since March 2020. American culture needed a boost of unity heading into the 2024 election. Trump’s promise to revitalize the American economy and strengthen national identity through tariffs was likely the persuading message for many swing voters.
But the problem is this strategy and the economic theory behind reshoring American manufacturing are built on nostalgia, untethered from the present moment.
Conservative public policy commentator Oren Cass, a vocal supporter of protectionism, says that the U.S. needs a return to the cultural identity of the mid-20th century, a time when unionized factory jobs were plentiful as industrialization progressed.
We’re far away from that period, both in years and in workability. With global trade now an integral part of the U.S. economy and the cost of production much higher at home, it’s hard to see a future where domestic manufacturing can sustain the U.S. economy.
The Trump administration is caught up in restoring manufacturing jobs, which Cass calls “good jobs” as the solution to instability. But it fails to recognize the value of restoring the dignity of unskilled American labor still working on our shores. Unskilled labor typically describes any labor not requiring specialized training or education.
In the current economic climate, this type of work does not get the respect it deserves, even when so many Americans spend their work weeks in low-skill jobs. A Brookings Institution study published a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic began found that around 44 percent of Americans worked in jobs classified as “low-wage.” These jobs include cashiers, food preparation workers, janitors and childcare workers.
These jobs don’t require a college degree, but they’re crucial to the well-being and progress of society. Without childcare workers, labor force participation for many parents would be close to impossible. School janitors ensure children can learn in clean environments.
And yet, the people who work in these jobs seem to be treated with inadequate dignity and insufficient compensation.
Though the average American paycheck increased from $2.50 to $22.65 between 1964 and 2018, with inflation adjustments, purchasing power has barely increased, according to the Pew Research Center.
At the same time, costs have skyrocketed for many crucial aspects of economic mobility. The annual inflation-adjusted costs of four-year public colleges have risen from $2,843 to $9,750 in 2023, according to one study. America faces a shortage of over a million homes, and the lack of supply continually hurts the least economically successful, pushing up prices.
Messaging from the administration does little to alleviate these conditions.
In an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan, Treasury Secretary Howard Lutnick said, “The army of millions and millions of human beings screwing in little, little screws to make iPhones — that kind of thing is going to come to America, it’s going to be automated.” Lutnick said the automation would open the door for more mechanics and electricians to work on them.
In that same interview, Lutnick called non-college educated workers “the core of our workforce.”
There is a clear contradiction here. In one sentence, the secretary trivializes the work as simply servicing a machine screwing in screws, failing to recognize that in the absence of those repair jobs, iPhones may not be accessible to everyday Americans. In another, he deems unskilled laborers to be at the heart of the American labor market.
A real “pro-worker” plan of economic nationalism should start by recognizing the reality of hardship facing high school-educated workers working in the U.S. right now, and introducing more ways to support them, through improved wages and better benefits, all part of driving deeper respect for the value they bring to American civic life.
If economic nationalism solely focuses on what unskilled labor produces, and doesn’t consider the needs of those doing the work, it remains an empty promise.
Raj Ghanekar is a Medill senior. He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
