Forbes just released its list of top jobs for 2014.

Given our tech-centered and energy-hungry economy, many titles on this list come as no surprise.

Anyone wanting to become a Software Developer, Web Developer, or Petroleum Engineer, for example, has a bright future. There are more jobs than applicants in these fields, and the pay isn’t shabby.

There was one job title, however, that didn’t make this list, nor is it ever likely to. Yet according to people like Ashton Kutcher, it is one that he sees members of his peer group wanting more than anything else.

Ashton Expresses Disgust

Less than a week before this list hit broadband, Ashton Kutcher made an appearance on the Ellen show and dished on his disgust with individuals whose main aspiration in life is to “become famous.”

“I talk to some of my friends,” he said. “They don’t want to get a job at Starbucks [or wherever] because they feel that it’s below them.”

He went on to say: “I think the only thing that can be below you is to not have a job.”

Kutcher isn’t saying anything new about the entitlement mentality members of his generation, Gen Y, aka the Millenials, have been associated with for years. Getting rich and famous as a career choice has been at the top of their list for awhile now. A 2007 article in USA Today explored this phenomenon, citing several polls and studies about young people’s attitudes towards work.

From a more “mature” perspective, this attitude seems unhealthy, even dangerous.

But for anyone in my generation — Gen X — this aspiration is all too familiar.

Gordon Gecko, Anyone?

In the 1980’s, becoming a Wall Street Fat Cat like the fictional movie character Gordon Gecko — with its material trappings and rewards — was all the rage. The word YUPPIE was coined, and believe me, plenty of people in my peer group had stars in their eyes, too. The propaganda machine, as Kutcher referred to it, may not have been as big then as it is now, but it was there. And it impressed a lot of young people with its own version of the rich and famous stamp.

In her response to Ashton’s declaration, Ellen said that success is “all about working hard and I don’t think people want to work as hard today as we did when we were starting out.”

Wealth and fame for the majority of those who achieve it are still the by-product of hard work. Of sacrfices. Of loads and loads of failure. Ellen would be the first to say the years she slogged around the country from one dim comedy club to the next as she made a name for herself in the entertainment industry were the years that made her who she is today.

There is no shame in starting at the bottom and working up.

A Message of Hope

As the gap between the rich and poor in this country continues to widen, it’s important for role models like Kutcher to promote an inspirational message about working hard and being grateful for the opportunity to work, no matter what that work may be. Every generation of young people needs to be inspired to carry on the torch of making a life for themselves through their own efforts.

After all, hard work to make a better life for yourself and your family is one of the founding principles of this country. If wealth and fame are the by-products of your efforts, terrific.

For anyone looking to find Being Rich and Famous on the top jobs for 2014 list, I’m afraid the applications for that will be a long time coming. But Starbucks is definitely hiring.