I think we're working on that... slowly (and slowly is an appropriate pace for that kind of change).
Maybe I have an echo chamber of friends and acquaintances, but there seem to be growing support for what people like Mike Rowe have to say about the trades. Money is a big reason for that- trades pay better than they did 20-30 years ago and as a result, the invisible hand of the marketplace is doing what it does. (I believe in capitalism and free markets but I don't believe in a total laissez-faire economy.)
We'll never get to a perfect system, but I seem to remember a group of guys who coined the phrase "a more perfect ___." I think part of what they meant by that was the system of (limited) laws and society.
My mom routinely chides my brother and I for not having Master's degrees yet - all of our cousins on that side of the family do... My dad quickly points out to her "yeah, but how much do you think our kids make - they are making more than their cousins?" I tell her I have the equivalent of a Master's Degree in flying, but to no avail. She seems to think there's no way I am making 6 figures (or close to it depending on where I live). She, like many Americans are stuck in the rut of thinking that degrees automatically = $$ and the military is no place to be able to make a living long term, save for a pension at the end.
For what it's worth, between having gone to USNA and flight school, as a O-4 select you all know what I'm making with just a B.S. My brother has as B.A. in Photography from a SUNY school but focused more on digital retouching and has been doing that since he graduated in 2011 and makes ~$120-130k depending on the year in NYC with his own apartment he bought. He's doing just fine. My cousins with the M.A.'s and M.S.'s are in the 60k range, but arguing with my mother is pointless on the topic as she truly believes that they have a higher status in life with their degrees. To me, she represents that line of thinking that I mentioned.
Know who is doing better than all of us?
My best friend in high school who was always on the verge of failing out. He's an A&P (and now avionics Master Tech too!) for Gulfsteam with a year of formal education on the topic + the schools Gulfstream sends him too in house. Guy is clearing $135k. Biggest expense was buying his own tools and tool box. When he gets on the government contracts to Italy and/or Afghanistan, he's socking away way more than that with all the per diem/hazard duty pay he gets from the company.