Hey Steven, you make some pretty good points here. One of the universal facts in any society that doesn't assign a role to its citizens is the "2nd generation" syndrome.
Immigrant moves into "land opportunity" of choice, works his or her butt off to make a better life. Kids of said immigrant grow up living the better life. Kids and grandkids of immigrant can't imagine doing the grunt work the immigrant had to do.
Middle class guy looks around and knows he can do better. Gets FAFSA, Student Loans, or enlists in Ameri Corps or the Military; goes to college, gets a degree, lands an "entry level" mid management job, works up the ladder. His kids are young during the college and mid management "lean" years, but by the teen years, they are fat and happy.... they go to college, do "ok", and expect to continue lifestyle enjoyed at "daddy's"... sometimes even AT daddy's.
Rich parents, raise their kids in lap of luxury, set up trust funds so kids won't have to worry about money... kids, grandkids (and so on) consider anything less than CEO or politics "beneath" them.
So, who does the menial tasks? The kids of the immigrant that didn't "Move up"; the kids of the middle class family who are middle class because of two paychecks and a lot of over time doing meanial tasks; the college grad who found himself (or herself) "out of the fast track" on the corperate ladder, and picked up whatever they could... and their kids; or (of course) the 5th or 6th generation "working poor" who never envisioned more for themselves or their kids, but was never really up for the idea of perpetual welfare life.
The fact is, the "menial labor" will always be needed, and it will always be done. It will be done by those who settle for it as a temporary situation (constantly working towards something better when they aren't at work), and/or those who choose it as a way of life (either directly or indirectly), and just keep doing it until they are eligible for retirement, or die.
The other fact is (and this freaked me out when I saw it first hand), there are many people who want nothing more than what you and I call "menial tasks" in life. They want to go to work, do a job, and go home. I took a job in a factory once, to me it was something I accepted as a temporary situation... I thought that was what factory work was. When I got to know the other people on the line, WOW, what an education in the human-ness of being. I worked with people who actually loved their menial lives. Some loved there jobs, but most just did it for the money. It wasn't a lot of money, but it paid the rent and bills, with enough left over for the weekend.
Since then, I've known maids, basic EMTs, CNAs, hod carriers, groundskeepers, and many other laborers who not only feel content where they are, but wouldn't "move up" if they had the chance.
So who does the "basic occupations" that keep our nations running? More often than I think most of us understand... those who choose to; either temporarily or permanently.
