I would say he is absolutely correct. I own my own contracting company that I started at 26 ( I am now 56). Many of my contractors specifically electricians, plumbers, and concrete men earn between $85-150K a year. No joke. Sure they do put in hours, but it's not anything worse than working at your local high tech firm. These guys are satisfied, enjoy what they do, have tons of autonomy and are not strapped with the dept from a liberal education they could never use. Trade School, internships, apprenticeships, etc are an excellent way to learn a trade and make a living. And guess what, you will never be told you are worthless, be accused of rape, be told your gender is second rate or that your skin color is the wrong shade. In the trades the sky is absolutely GREEN AND PAVED WITH 100 DOLLAR BILLS.