Don't take it personally Shollin, no one's judging you as a person. The simple fact is that today the financial returns to knowledge work are higher than ever, and the supply of good jobs that require little education keeps shrinking.

Our region was blessed/cursed for decades with an abundance of jobs that required a strong back and the ability to zone out for 8-10 hours a day while doing monotonous work. That's over. People can still be successful without a formal higher education, but it's more difficult than before, and the disparity in pay and security between high-knowledge and low-knowledge jobs is greater than ever.