Funny, you sound a lot like me. And for the record, in addition to my tech "day" job, I work in a live music venue, and a lot of the work is physical labour so I am exposed to both of the paradigms every day. I also own a tractor and split firewood manually. And I'm hoping to get forklift certified soon, because why, not? I, too, have been working since I was very young (15, in Texas, doing roofing, commercial electric and demo) and working people are my people.

Anyway, in some ways I agree more than disagree with you, but I wanted you to understand that I've had all the jobs (restaurant/Bar, field service, tech, executive, manager, director) in a lot of industries because I see value in labour and community. If the other things (welding, fork lifts, live event tech) paid better I would rather do that than work in "tech" to be honest. Real value is measured more effectively in the "real" world. Our industry is far more built on hype and performative gestures and bullshit, frankly.