You do realize that America depends on China for 97% of our prescription drugs...including
antibiotics which our troops would need if we ever had a military conflict with China. When you say 'free flow of knowledge' are you referring to our universities educating our enemy (for profit)....in fact the President (in between being VP and President) was writing letters of recommendation to top universities for the children of his son's communist Chinese partners. If you don't think that the middle class has been SOLD OUT by our elite class* (for profit) then we can agree to disagree...
So? You do realize that there are other areas of the world which can manufacture a commodity product like prescription drugs? You do realize that the rest of the world finances your spending habits? Just about everything you buy/consume is cheaper than what it otherwise would be.
What I'm saying is that anyone in the world with an internet connection has access to literature with which to teach themselves. Chemistry, engineering, etc. It's all there for free and has been for the better part of 20 years.
The problems with the middle class is the result of competition. This is nothing new. For example, textile workers in England were replaced by machines, then UK based Mills were replaced by mills based in the NE US, then these mills were replaced by mills in the SE US, which themselves were replaced by mills outside the US. This took over a 150 yrs to occur but it did happen.
As for universities that has always been the case. Besides on a weekly basis I see individuals who took on tens of thousands of dollars in student loans just to get degrees where their salaries will never be sufficient to pay off the loans themselves. Where's the personal responsibility? There are "rich" kids who would be in the top 1 percent of just about any HS class in the US but because they're in the top 15 percent of a "wealthy district" they get kneecapped by Admissions and never get accepted into some of the top universities.
Profit is not guaranteed. You're looking for a return (i.e. wage) on your capital (ie. labor) invested with an employer. Everyone is looking for a return on their capital.