==Until plumbers, electricians, carpenters, etc. stop being a part of the undesirable Other to middle and upper middle class Americans==

Source? I think most people view these jobs as the foundation of the American middle class. At least we do in the Midwest, where I grew up.

==Paying $100,000 for your kid to study underwater basket weaving at Harvard is still socially superior to running a multi-million dollar business in the trades.==

Having a Harvard degree gives you higher earning potential than a career in the trades [1].

==It is a problem of culture, not economics.==

Oddly, all the jobs you mention are historically union jobs. Meanwhile, one side of the political aisle has attempted to weaken unions over the past 4 decades. If we want people to embrace union jobs, maybe we should embrace unions?

[1] https://www.scholarshipcare.com/average-income-of-harvard-un...