Blue collar is as blue collar does.[...]You don't have options because you think you don't have options. [...]

It's subtle, but as William Ryan put it in his book (1970):

Victim-blaming is cloaked in kindness and concern.

By advising someone to change his behavior or attitudes when he complains about being mistreated or exploited by their employer, what you're really saying is: "The problem is not the system enabling someone to mistreat or exploit you, the problem is your own behavior and attitudes and being in this situation therefore is your own fault."

In a society where unemployment is a thing and no job equals no decent living, simply suggesting career changes or additional degrees ignores the life realities of large parts of the population to an astonishing degree.

My dad was the first one in his family to go to college. His parents didn't finish high school. Their parents didn't have school. My mother? Well, her mother and father were kicked out of Harvard and Radcliffe respectively for "sexual indiscretion" and he went on to be the head of the AFL.

Anecdotal evidence is not evidence. The Wikipedia page about it puts it best right at the start:

See also: Confirmation bias and Cherry picking (fallacy)

Another Wikipedia article for good measure: just world hypothesis

More recently, researchers have explored how people react to poverty through the lens of the just-world hypothesis. Strong belief in a just world is associated with blaming the poor, with weak belief in a just world associated with identifying external causes of poverty including world economic systems, war, and exploitation.

So, good for you if the world feels like a just place. It means that you are more likely to be a happy person. But you see, people don't just decide they'd rather regard the world with more suspicion. Chances are, they've learnt just how much "justice" is worth in their own life. Things went well for you and your family? Awesome! This just simply doesn't mean that an exploitative system is not an exploitative system.

There really are socio-economic realities involved here. People do not just limit themselves.

One recent summary of twin studies suggests that “economic outcomes and preferences, once corrected for measurement error, appear to be about as heritable as many medical conditions and personality traits.” Another finds that wages are more heritable than height.