im not sure that is true except as fantasy, sorry. you need layers of education and skill, master craftsmen, apprentices, academic parallels, tool makers, lines of communication, materials supply and distribution. and will.
Jape,
Go look at the Graduate Schools of Physics in the State Universities and Private Universities in the USA. Pick a few at random and see how many of the Physic's Grad Students are from China and ask yourself: "If the American Schools are so bad why are so many students from China coming here to study?"
The binocular industry worldwide amounts to very little. The Glass industry is a different thing. There is a Schott Glass Plant about 20 miles from my home that employs 200 people.
http://www.us.schott.com/advanced_optics/english/about-ao/locations/duryea.html
They can get as many tool makers and craftsmen as they need from Johnson College of Technology in nearby Scranton, PA. I have a friend who graduated as a machinist from there years ago and even after he retired he was sent to South Korea to work on problems in Nuclear Reactors there.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to education in the USA in one small corner of North East Pennsylvania.
Bob
Last edited: