Why is one person's passion "less" simply due to level of education required?

Somethings about our world make no sense.

Everyone knocks fast food workers, but most people eat fast food. What if someone truly loved working in fast food? What if it was the job that gave them true fulfillment? They would be told it's an entry level job, that they need to spend tons of money and go to college to earn a degree in a field that is not nearly as fulfilling to them to get a job they hate just to make more money.  They would be looked down on for fulfilling their passion, all the while treated as less then, and likely as unintelligent, simply due to their method of earning income.

On the other hand, what if that is the only job someone can hold?  What if that is where their skills lie and even with training and patience they will never be successful in another career?  What about the people who went to trade schools instead of college?  Those who work with their hands instead of their brains?  And what about the people who simply do not care, the people who simply want to be service drones, put in their hours then go home and live their lives?

Why shouldn't someone be able to support themselves working in a job they truly love, even if it's one that isn't "good enough" in the eyes of society? Why do we honor people's passions with paychecks they can live on only if those passions need degrees from four year universities?  Why does it require a college degree to earn enough money to support yourself "respectably"?  Why would anyone think that there should be full time jobs that do not pay enough to support a person working diligently at them?  We are not talking getting rich flipping burgers, simply able to pay for food, bills, medical care, and a roof over your head.

Everyone agrees that basic fast food work should not pay as much as a four (or more) year degree trained field, there is something to be said about rewarding the extra work, effort, expense, training, and skill involved after all, but why are the people who can and want to put in the extra time and money the only people who deserve to be treated respectably by the rest of society?  Why are they the only ones who deserve the most basic of financial stability?  Why are their passions the only ones society values?  Why do we link income and education level to worthiness?  Stop and think about it.

How to Make America Great Again

The United States is consistently being ranked below other countries in areas like healthcare, paid leave, parental supports and so on, while being ranked way up there in income inequality, poor maternal outcomes, gun violence, incarceration and other things that are, simply put, not so good.  I keep seeing people calling us the greatest nation and wanting to "Make America Great Again!!!" (tm).  I'm also seeing these very same people trashing the other countries who are having better outcomes than we are and saying things like, "We don't want to be like Europe!" and "That won't work here in 'Murica!"

Now, let's take a look back at our history, shall we?  What made our country what it is?  What made it strong?  What made us reach the lofty heights that we have?  We took what worked and tossed the rest, very literally in fact.  The United States is built from people from all over the world coming here (or being forcibly brought here) with all their different backgrounds, beliefs, cultures and ideals and then tossing all of that in a blender and turning it on high.  We came from a mixing pot of races, creeds, ideals, you name it.  America took what worked and left what didn't.  That is how we succeeded historically.

How (and why) did we go from that beautiful place of strength to "EHRMERGERD!  If it works elsewhere super well then we HAVE to NOT do it here no matter what!!!" (with a side of "Immigrants BAD!!!").  Exactly what is stopping us from analyzing what works where it does work and then adapting that for use in the United States?  Better yet, why aren't we doing that, adding a big dash of the "American Way," and then doing it better than the place(s) we borrow the concepts from?  Why can't we take what they are doing well and do it better?  Isn't that what America is about?  When did we turn from world leaders into weaklings too afraid to face our own faults?  Are we so ashamed that we have allowed ourselves to fall so far behind the rest of the world that we'd rather allow places in America, like Alabama, to exist at third world levels than to pull ourselves up out of the mess we've made for ourselves by copying and improving on already proven models and make America truly great again?