Playing up the "huge pile of money" angle may be wholly fictional. Or not. A much more responsible description is that a trade is very likely to provide independence and a fairly stable work-life, albeit hardworking. Perhaps an antique perspective, but its dispiriting to me that indecent amounts of money have become a more compelling goal, or glamorized as a goal, than an ordinary life of stability and independence from want. For most of us, its the stability that allows us the time and environment to grow as people, not the fairy tale dream of following one's "passion".

Many--and I mean many--trades do not provide stable work whatsoever.

If we remove the fiction and get to the truth, it is this: most jobs in the trades suck, and that's why people don't want them. It is the simplest answer, and it's staring everyone in the face, but they tenaciously deny it because they have romanticized the trades in their head, usually based on a few weekend experiences where they got out of the office and got their hands dirty for a few hours and loved it. They do not understand the physical toll that years of repetitive motion takes, or the financial risk involved.

The trades often have a low barrier to entry, which means they are competitive, which means for a lot of tradespeople out there, jobs are done at razor-thin margins or at a loss. To improve revenue, deadlines are sped up, safety regs are ignored, the cheapest labor is hired, and it becomes a grueling shitshow. There is nothing romantic about it. It sucks. I used to do it, and I'm way better off physically and financially now that I've left.