I did dirty blue collar jobs for years. Then I would sit on my couch with a laptop and learn Python every night, from 6 or 7PM until I couldn't stay awake any longer. It was no picnic but it can be done.
And, quite frankly, just because you were able to do it, does not mean that it's not an incredibly shitty thing to expect of everyone else, or that those who aren't able to do it aren't somehow less deserving.