Islam has the problem of saying manual labor should be for slaves and non-Muslims, better to raid and enslave than do manual labor. If slaves aren’t available, the women and children do the hard work while men graduate to “master”.
So you get a culture that despises manual labor and skilled tradespeople, along with one that hates business (raiders are more honest than traders, per the Koran, because the raider risks his life to steal).
The end result is an indolent culture, unwilling to do the work to build much or do much except conquer and live off the spoils.
Americans saying such jobs are beneath them risks replicating this model on free labor, feeding it by further importation of foreigners who hate them. It also leads to greater poverty among the native born, because they will live off welfare before cleaning toilets, either for money or their family.
To be fair, western civ used to have similar ideas about getting rich by war being more honorable than by selling people stuff.
Absolutely fundamental to the worldview of the Greeks and Romans. Moved into the medieval worldview where the nobles, descended from the most efficient thugs, looked down their noses at the burghers and peasants who actually produced stuff.
Has made its last stand in (mostly Euro) progressive types who admire intellectuals and workers (in theory, they’ve never known any actual workers) while despising those “in trade.” Like Margaret Thatcher’s father.
Recently saw a movie about Princess Grace. Hubbie slugged a snooty Frenchman for saying her father was a Philadelphia bricklayer. Which was true, he started out as a bricklayer and became a millionaire contractor.
Personally, I’m still trying to figure out why that’s an insult. I’d consider it a compliment.
The Muslims I know all work for banks.