This misses the point. As well, there are many people in these kinds of jobs that do not make as much money as you think; I feel like you're either taking the emotional bait or you don't realize that. I like "dummy with a student loan" reversal though; you realize many people have student loans for vocational training right? You realize many people have paid more money for vocational training than they can earn. Many have paid over $30,000 for schools and only receive a certificate that they cannot find employers willing to pay more than $10-$12/hr, if that.

I don't think it is controversial to state that one that goes toward an academic track has equal ability to go toward carpentry as one that started out on a vocational track, but the reverse of this is not so.