Thanks! That’s a great combo — manifold-sql + duckdb gives you strong typing with powerful SQL under the hood. Fahmatrix is aiming to complement that approach for cases where you want quick, native Java code without SQL — e.g., when building data flows or custom logic inline. Would love to hear if you’ve hit any pain points that a Java-native approach could help with.
> We never stopped manufacturing, we just stopped employing people.
That’s a misleading oversimplification. While it’s true we haven’t stopped manufacturing, we did offshore a massive portion of it--especially after the Open Door Policy with China and subsequent free trade agreements. That shift didn’t just change where things are made; it fundamentally altered corporate incentives. Once production moved overseas, the need to invest in domestic labor--training, benefits, long-term employment--shrank accordingly.
Outside of government, this shift also coincides with the decline of pensions and the rise of the 401k.
Career growth has always been a shared responsibility between employees and employers. In white-collar fields--especially medicine and engineering--education has long been frontloaded, with formal schooling as the main on-ramp.
Blue-collar jobs, by contrast, have relied more on trade schools, mentorship, and hands-on training. These pathways have steadily eroded since the 1980s.
Much of this traces back to the Open Door Policy with China and the broader Free Trade Agreements that followed. These moved massive segments of industry offshore--along with the structures that once incentivized long-term employee development through education and skill-building.
Revitalizing domestic industry could reintroduce competition among employers, which in turn could restore the pre-1990s incentives for long-term investment in the workforce.
“I prefer the em dash — it’s my calling card.”