I'm an IBEW electrician. A good electrician (or plumber, carpenter, pipefitter, etc...) Isn't cheap. A cheap electrician isn't good. No loan debt, always in very high demand, and 6 figure income with a 40 to 50 hour week. Pension, health benefits. I'm doing better than many college graduates.

Don’t get a career in a trade...work in the trade to own the business. Owning the business or your own business should be what every tradesman strives towards.

I just paid my electrician $8000 for 1 day of work. He had 2 helpers and got the job done in 1 day. I paid my gas fitter $2500 for 3 hours of work. Just himself and a van. They deserve every penny.

White collars couldn’t exist without the blue collars

Blue collar is 'subservient"??? LOL So many white collar jobs are super-subservient - a slave to the company. Most tradesmen can quit one job and have another by tomorrow! Or better still, start their own business. I'm a construction estimator and I really envy electricians/millwrights/mechanics/etc. Working with your hands is the most satisfying thing for income.

I’m a garbage man. I pull 6 figures with lots of overtime, 70-80k with some overtime. Not to mention my job requires and makes me very fit and physically strong

Trades or STEM.

Some plumbers i know are better earners than some lswyers and doctors

Im an hvac tech and I feel for the people who are angry about their blue collar life and feel less important than their white collar brethren. I will say though that this choice ive made has made me unbelievably self reflective and help me work out issues of faith and worth value and identity my life isn't perfect but I thank God that my work has provided me with the resources to live well and the opportunity to talk to and influence (in small ways) the people I come into contact with throughout the day.

My husband is an electrician, and we’re now in a position where he can support me and the kids on one salary. He’s our hero ❤

Skilled labor isn't cheap, cheap labor isn't skilled. Blue collar and damn proud of every dollar.

I just started work as a tower climber some weeks ago. My hands hurt and so do my feet. I finally feel I've found a job that understands me. Thinking is required if you're going to be safe to yourself and those around you and do a good job, but twisting wrenches and climbing a 250 ft ladder is so straightforward. I love it when things are simple. All it takes to be valued is to be at work on time and be a hard/smart worker.

The trades people built society. Those people are valuable wherever they go.

I'm a carpenter. I think the trades have a tradition wrapped up around it. It's got honor.

Anecdotally speaking, I know far more multimillionaires who started in trades than who did white collar jobs.

I went through school in the gifted programs but had no motivation to perform well in an academic setting. Welding is what I settled on and I have no regrets. The key is being a high level tradesmen, you will hate a career as a one trick pony no matter what field you choose. My math, material science, and metallurgy knowledge is becoming vast. My problem solving skills I would put up against almost anyone. If you are truly hungry for success and yearn to be self employed trades are the best option.

Listen: human beings weren't created to sit around and push paper, the human body becomes its finest when exposed to physical exertion. Thats why gyms exist, so those that don't have physical jobs still get that exertion. Why not have a job that brings out the best within yourself physically?

Jordan Peterson is always so insightful

I made more money as an aerospace machinist than many of my friends who went to college and started white collar careers. I was already a journeyman tool & die maker and running a shift when they graduated and started an entry level career. I went to my buddy’s graduation ceremony on my brand new Harley Electra Glide. At that time I was buying a house, had a a brand new (paid cash) Toyota Supra, was restoring a 1964 Ford Bronco and taking classes at a community college at night. I have since gone on to earn 2 masters degrees (thank you GI Bill, I enlisted later in life) and am now considered a “professional” (whatever that means) and make a little bit more money, but believe I was more content working with my hands and brain.

Not everyone one is built to ride a desk for a living. There are even smart people in the trades too- and there are definitely some dumb ones in the office. People have different strengths & weaknesses. Found this to be true every place I've worked.