Paying workers a living wage?    Who are you kidding . ? That's Too expensive.
Better to ship jobs overseas and rely on foreign countries to make everything.
Then spend billions on policing and military to keep people in line and enforce that system through fear, sanctions, and retaliation if not a complete puppet government like what collapsed under Mubarak in Egypt, El Salvador, Panama, etc. No, no  convince  them they can pray away the gay and that cigarettes equal home  runs. Tell em to get jobs as greeters at Wal-Mart and flipping burgers. Tell em social security may be turned into a lottery they can retire on. Better yet let em die on job like the Chinese kids.

Look .without the machines, the factories, or the skilled people to run them, the U.S. economy is hollowed out. The ability to produce real things on its own soil once the foundation of its power is gone, sold off piece by piece like in Russia after  "communism"  collapsed.
Empty buildings in a month . What remains is a service economy built on debt, finance, and consumer consumption that can’t sustain itself.  Or change a flat tire on its own.  You better fuckn learn to speak Mandarin , Cause Russia can't even beat lil ole Ukraine.