Having worked my entire working life with both white and blue collar workers, I can tell you that after 20 years or so of manual labor, those men (and increasingly women) suffer from carpal tunnel, bad backs, and all sorts of chronic injuries. A not-insignificant percentage are on disability, unable to hold down any job.
This is not because they're lazy or faking it.
Manual labor is hard, and after many years their bodies break down. And chronic injuries don't go away when you retire.
So yes, you can make a lot of money initially, but there's a price to pay.