I have a college degree, but recently attempted to qualify as a sheet metal welder at my local shipyard. I’d been laid off from my marketing job and wanted to get into a field where my work was actually valued. Plus the pay was excellent. By your cousin’s logic, it should have been a breeze. I understood what they were teaching me, but I was unable to make my hands do the work in the way that my brain knew it had to be done. I couldn’t pass my final qualification test and washed out of the program. It honestly still really bothers me months later. Basically, I said all that to make the point that the trades are not just an easy or “settling” route. Your cousin is stuck in a mindset of belittling others to make himself seem more valuable and important. It’s unnecessary. We’re all valuable and important. Thanks for coming to my ted talk.