I absolutely love your argument about less stuff and more meaning, and this issue of better jobs for the working class is one I would have loved to see realistically debated during the election (JD Vance briefly mentioned it, but there wasn't really serious debate about issues and policies).
But the idea that this is why people came out for Trump seems just not true. People mostly seemed to come out for the opposite reason, that they felt financially squeezed by inflation. I think a larger story about bringing manufacturing back for meaning is interesting, but not at the forefront of voters minds.
"Exit polls on Tuesday showed a stark partisan divide. Some two-thirds (67%) of voters said the condition of the economy was “not good/poor,” and only 32% thought the economy was “excellent/good."
https://fortune.com/2024/11/06/trump-harris-economy-voters-h...