Many things in life are to some degree what you make of them, but a lot of low skill jobs don't even offer the hope of learning or advancement. This seems like a real situation of despair to me.
I showed a lot of promise in a field I was interested in early in life, but there was nowhere to go to level up in it without going back to college (which I couldn't afford either the time or the money for). Now I'm staring down a dead end at middle age with no idea what's next, other than that both my pay and my workload will be miserable compared with what I should be capable of.
One apprenticeship at the right place & time would have dramatically changed my life, and I'd be contributing to the economy on a whole different level.
When all the entry level jobs are dead ends, everybody loses.