Disclaimer: I am in no way criticizing those who want to do more for themselves or who want to do what they love.
Personally, I want a much higher-paying job. But I will never look down on the low-paying jobs I used to do in the past as I learned valuable skills. And I will never look down on anyone making minimum wage or below min. wage.
But I see this rhetoric mainly in the self-employed/hustle n' grind/BYOB (Be Your Own Boss) circles, and they often say garbage like “I went from doing [very low paying job], to doing [extremely high paying, glamorous, capitalism-friendly job]” when they're trying to sell something. I'm sick of seeing them say things like, “I went from cleaning houses to making $100k a year!” or “I went from being a janitor to being my own boss, working 10 hours a week, and making $500k a year” or “I went from living with my parents, buying hand-me-downs, and taking the bus to living in Beverly Hills, collecting Birkins, and driving a Porche!”
I can understand that the “rags to riches” story is still an efficient marketing angle in this capitalist society, and it may be an inspiration for people who want to make more money. But is it necessary to sh!t on low-wage jobs and the people who work them?! Why not use another angle such as “I went from doing a job I hated to doing a job I love and making the money I want to make”?
Of course service workers and people working in fields with notoriously low salaries deserve way more! But instead of belittling them, belittle the trash Beast System we live in that DOESN'T want to pay people what they are worth when they can.