what factories in your hometown have gone into production

[joneschick]

for anything needed to support the military? Ask anyone from WWII era that lived in a city.....it was damned noisy. Every factory line that could be converted to military production was converted. People picked up scrap metal to be used, many things were rationed for the good of the troops. There was work to be done that did rally the people. Is that all Halliburton now? OUr industrial cities are dying and none of those empty factories and innumerable unemployed factory workers can help? What's wrong with this picture?

this was originally posted in response to a lbn thread, but I've been wanting to ask these questions.

[whistle]

1. Lockheed Martin here in Orlando and numerous other ....

...huge military-industrial space coast. As the war comes to a halt Florida will be hit hard I would think. But, BushCo wants to accelerate war involvement in which case these industrial concerns will flourish.

[joneschick]

2. my mom grew up during the war years in Beloit, WI

not a big city. But the shoe factories, all the foundries, anyone that could produce canvas, uniforms etc. Repeated in cities of every size across the country. Container production for rations for the troops-- all that stuff. Not just the big aeronatics stuff. Where is this being done? Who makes the Kevlar? The night vision scopes? the housing units, the bedding----

[holboz]

3. * would lose support if his base became inconvenienced

or had to sacrifice anything such as putting gas into their guzzling 13 MPG SUVs.

Isn't everything being made in China these days? Heaven forbid should we pay an American factory worker a decent wage when we can pay an 8 year old Chinese kid 50 cents a week.

Sorry, do I sound bitter and cynical? Actually, I've thought about the lack of sacrifice that's been asked of the American people (aside from the families who have sons, daughters, moms, and dads in the military).

on edit: spelling

[Ready4Change]

4. Our fighting ability is much more expensive now.

As a result, money is the limitation, not production facilities.

We don't have the money to convert all our factories to war production. WW2 bombers, although expensive for their day, weren't the percentage of GDP a B2 is today. Unguided iron bombs are super cheap compared to laser/gps guided smart munitions.