If you pay a plumber to show up, his bid will be out of sight here in Raleigh. Plenty will show up for nothing and references.
Plumber is a "good" job because it is a regulated cartel. How many plumbers does the world really need? If we want most Americans to have good jobs like "plumber" the solution is actually simple: End international wage arbitrage for products sold in the USA and institute more restrictive immigration policies. If we want to allow wage arb. to happen for the next 30 years, well, welcome to third world America. It is a loooong way down from here, as you know if you have ever been to India.
I saw an ad for programmers for hire for $10/hr.... given that programming and computer science is one of the hardest fields to take up and excel in, what does that imply for young americans trying to 'do the right thing' and acquire a real skill?
I knew a young couple who were dental hygenists and decided to become plumbers. In their own words, "It aint rocket science, the money is much better and it doesn't put your back out" (Apparently the dental profession has a very high rate of back problems probably due to the unnatural posture they work under)
Regulated cartel? I dunno where you live but tThey work for peanuts in TX. Go to craigslist you will find alot of poor plumbers begging for job, of course most of them are hispanics
Your best bet is to be a plumber and trade/invest on the side. Without substantial backing, it is impossible to live well starting from scratch as a trader, DO NOT believe the hype. It's not true. having an income and trading on the side is the ideal situation. surf PS i have wealthy relatives who are not educated and they tell me they WISH they had gone to college despite the money. Dats the way it is....
If they're wealthy why don't they go right now? On the plumber front, man that is a nasty job. I'd almost rather haul trash - at least you don't have to deal with other people's raw sewage, plus you're outdoors getting some good vitamin D from the sun!