[9YearLurker]

Adults with those dreams probably aren’t the ones suited for it. Factory work is still a “working class”, rather than “middle class”, line of work. That really is at the heart of the issue as to why students aren’t raised to aspire to such positions—their parents have dreamed for them of a move up the social ladder.

[Alberta's Child]

You raise an interesting point, and I think that really points to an issue that doesn't get a lot of discussion. At one time in this country, factory labor was America's middle class ... but nobody thinks of it that way anymore. In some ways we're victims of our own success, because our middle class has become accustomed to a standard of living that would have been considered "upper class" not long ago.