Recruiting the New Industrial Base

From the first sentence, "hard tech" is used without being defined. Does it mean CNC milling and metal-shaping? A rebranding of industrial automation using the SEO-friendly "tech" word? Would be nice to know.

While some of it is bs, it's good to see an acknowledgement of labor alongside IP as necessary, while being clear that the labor is more attached to brains than meatpacking or logging has been.

Large areas and populations are still stuck in extractive and mythologized industries like mining and logging. Some description of how this future can pull along those populations instead of leaving them farther behind in skills and exposure to the whims of commodities trading would be welcome.