You've answered your own question: take the time to study a topic deeply. The top answer as I'm writing this says coding is a blue-collar profession, very well

You've answered your own question: take the time to study a topic deeply. The top answer as I'm writing this says coding is a blue-collar profession, very well, a lot of it is. I don't know if this is current, but we used to call these "line coders", nothing wrong with it, it's honest work. But coding is also a specialist occupation with many niches. Find one you like, and master it, to the point where you're advancing the state of the art. Congratulations, you're an expert now. The color of your collar should matter a lot less.