Right on George..... this ought to be required viewing for all students.

Back to the original post, I'm from Detroit, and lived during the height of the auto industry. The distinction was as follows:

blue collar ..... can be put to work with little training, wears anything he wants, and is totally expendable( without unions to protect him).

skilled trades ..... blue collar types who have gained skills that require a few years to master. They are paid more, and are treated better, because they are more difficult to replace, and are required for smooth operation of the production lines.

white collar ...... bean counters, engineers, and sons/daughters of the management

management ..... the owners and profiteers

As far a programmers go, I would place them in the skilled-trades catagory in the above heirarchy.