Daniel Darling of the Ethics and Religions Liberty Commission argues that blue collar jobs need to be seen as legitimate vocations. He’s right.

Previous generations held up the trades—plumbers, electricians, line workers, factory foremen, and retail managers—as worthy vocations. Today someone who works as a bricklayer or roofer or some other blue-collar profession are often looked on as sad cases. We wonder, privately, where the wrong turn happened. How could a smart, capable person end up in such an ignoble career? Where’s the future in that?

But we forget that our society runs on the strength of those who build and maintain our infrastructure, who go to work every day and build things with their hands.