​Made in America

It’s October of 2016 and the United States is starting to feel the revolutionary ripples that technology is sending into our society. Our political system is reeling from the fallout of what many perceive to be the failures of politicians and policy to protect the American dream. Political candidates, eager to show their solidarity with the idealized, blue-collar American, have rolled up their sleeves and headed deep into coal country, old steel mills and the automobile industry strongholds to win votes.

The narrative parroted in the national media has been that traditional manufacturing jobs in industries like coal mining, steel manufacturing are drying up due to advances in technology and the automation of work. Thus, the fervently held belief that all Americans who are willing to work hard and have high school degree have a right to enjoy the bounty of the American dream is now in jeopardy. What is most fascinating about this election is that these communities of once thriving industrial areas are, understandably, looking to revitalize themselves by once again surging forward in manufacturing- an area that may not have much room to grow.

These issues are certainly relevant in the political debates over trade, such as the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership) and NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). However, this narrative is missing the greater issue at hand. Whether or not the United States chooses to engage in trade with Asia or what our strategy is for rebuilding the industrial job loss in Appalachia, we still have yet to solve the root of these issues.

It is no secret that technology has already started, and will continue to, fundamentally alter our economy. Much of the conversation about how technology will change our lives focuses on the latest iPhone, new advances in medical testing, or the next big tech startup. The multi-billion dollar valuations of Uber, Lyft and Airbnb are further evidence. Students at universities are quickly recognizing that technology is the future and are signing up for courses in computer science at dramatically increasingly rate. Meanwhile, investors and venture capitalists are scouring Silicon Valley trying to hunt down the next Google. The momentum building from the technology movement can largely be credited to Moore’s Law, which was proposed by George Moore in a 1965 paper titled, “Cramming more components onto integrated circuits,” where he essentially hypothesized that the processing capability of a computer doubles every 18 months, until 2025. His hypothesis has gained a tremendous amount of attention, as the proliferation of technological advances moves at an astronomical rate.

So what are we missing? How does this rapid growth in technological capacity strengthen or undermine our society? Everyone seems to recognize the incredibly positive potential that can be leveraged from increasing capacity but also is skeptical about its benefits for all members of society. The reality is that we need to be a nation that drives innovation and then uses our innovative capacity for our own citizens. We cannot and should not fight the proliferation of technology and instead need to focus on building the type of educational infrastructure that supports a knowledge-based society.

The grievances of the steelworkers and the coal miners are real. There is no denying the pain and the disruption that has ravaged many of these regions. However, I fear that this is just the beginning. The crisis in America isn’t the troubled manufacturing towns. They’re the symptoms of an undiagnosed epidemic in our social, financial and political system.

George Moore, in an interview with Thomas Friedman, was recently asked if he believed that Moore’s Law will continue to persist past his initial prediction. He said he believed it was possible and that the bounds of technology were truly unlimited. Thomas Friedman agreed with him but added, “Let’s remember that it was enabled by a group of remarkable scientists and engineers, in an America that did not just brag about being exceptional, but invested in the infrastructure and basic scientific research, and set the audacious goals, to make it so.”

Unfortunately, there is serious concern over whether or not we’ll be able to meet these goals. MIT recently published a report titled, “The Future Postponed: Why Declining Investment in Basic Research Threatens a U.S. Innovation Deficit” that joins a chorus of voices that have been pointing to major declines in U.S. innovation and leadership. In a time and a world that is increasingly dependent on knowledge as power, the United States has no option but to take dramatic steps to invest and push the bounds of scientific knowledge. The disgruntled voices of an America that is rapidly being left behind don’t need artificial, temporary solutions. Instead, we need to build a workforce of the future, for a world that is going to be increasingly demanding of our innovative potential.