Can you explain what you mean?

There seems to be little connection between the category of blue-collar work and programming other than it is a form of 'building'.

The crux of blue-collar work is that it predominately involves physical labor and does not require 'skill'. That's not a literal interpretation, that's the core meaning -- programming is not analogous to physical labor or 'unskilled' work.

Take it in the sense of "[Color] is the new black". Obviously, it's not literally true. But (going back to xapata's statement) computer programming could come to occupy the same role in society that manufacturing jobs used to. That's how I would've read the comment.

>The crux of blue-collar work is that it predominately involves physical labor and does not require 'skill'.

The former, yes - the latter, no.

A boilermaker or a welder is a blue-collar worker, but doing either requires a great deal of skill.

What it does not require is 'artistry.'

A welder's job doesn't require too much physical labor and a lot of skill but it would still be classified as blue collar.

> blue-collar ... physical labor and does not require skill

If you drop the physical labor requirement, some computer programming tasks can be performed by folks without much education.

Manufacturing has historically been a low-skilled, not un-skilled job. Programming can be, too, if we change the way we teach.