The claim is very much not that he should have gotten a different degree, but that there is no decent path to upward mobility for this seemingly decent person (

The claim is very much not that he should have gotten a different degree, but that there is no decent path to upward mobility for this seemingly decent person (or at least welding is not that path). Some have been arguing that skilled trades are the answer to those who are facing a lack of opportunity, this looks in depth at how one person's attempt to join the skilled trades went (poorly) and also looks at statistics for welders generally and shows that it's a mixed bag.