No, it's supply and demand. Plenty of humans can physically rearrange stuff but only a few can (or are authorized) to perform legal services. I also wouldn't bet against the white collar incumbent's ability to make it illegal to replace them.
A great many people in our society place higher value on their status than on realizing rational market moves. And to rub salt into the wound, many middle class can't afford a $200-500 dollar callout because their wages have been stagnant as well.
I'll say it again: the existence of Home Depot and other home improvement stores is evidence for wage stagnation.
> Plenty of humans can physically rearrange stuff
It might seem that way but I believe we presently have a building labour shortage. Anecdotally I don't know many master craftsmen, that species seems to be rarer today.
> white collar incumbent's ability to make it illegal to replace them
That is true but that's a problem with government.
There's a limit to how far that can go as well. I see a lot of young entrepreneurs undercutting legal and accounting online.
Yea, some people can't cut it in jobs like that, but that doesn't really say anything. Some of my friends that are physicians would struggle tremendously to do the programming and statistics in my line of work, but they will likely always earn more money than me.
Most jobs aren't as difficult as people love to pretend they are. The vast discrepancies in pay across America are probably not warranted in many cases.
Ah but physicians prove my point - the state typically requires many years of education and licensing to be a physician - whether you use the skills learned or not.
>but they will likely always earn more money than me.
Probably so. In the US I think this is because physicians have been very good at getting the state to drastically limit who can practice medicine. There are nearly zero limitations who who can practice programming, and barely any limitations on engineering.
Think about it - if you needed a to pass an examination, get a license, and spend years on post-undergrad schooling & forced unpaid internships programmers would have very high salaries.
I think that's just a terrible idea all around. You should be able to earn a great wage without suppressing the market to justify it. Or rather, people should not be rewarded for building/propagating high entry points to their careers. I get WHY it works out the way it does (bc capitalism), but it seems that in the end we all lose out.