problem is the biggest merchant of goods is amazon; something no one can easily replace.
the other problem is our transportation, which relies on automobiles. automobiles need significantly more space to get people to work in comparison to trains. back during & before world war 2, the railroads were the biggest asset to american business in both freight and passenger capacities.
if we want to get americans working again, the most we can do is put americans in the workhouse instead of leave them stranded on the freeway