If the vast majority of jobs are in burger flipping, and the limited number of elite chef positions are generally filled by a small subset of candidates (e.g. top schoolers) who were on the elite chef track from the get go, then yes, it's exactly like saying that.
You don't really "work your way up" from years and years of CRUD apps and API gluing to hard CS. In fact, if you get a CS degree and don't go straight into hard CS, you will forget most everything you learned in a few years, not to mention miss out on years of focused practice.
I agree with that. I'm personally stuck in one of these positions and it's a black hole that's really hard to get out of. Once you've learned most of what there's to learn about CRUD implementation and gluing them together, you need to get out as soon as possible or a couple of years down the line you'll simply not be qualified enough for any other position in CS.
That or you can write code in whatever spare time you might have from your 8-10 hours a day job. Based on what's said around HN, people putting in 14 hours a day coding are not that uncommon these days, so perhaps it's something programmers are better get used to. Remember to blog, have a rich github portfolio, contribute to OSS and run your own consulting consulting company in the spare time from your full-time job.
You don't really "work your way up" from years and years of CRUD apps and API gluing to hard CS. In fact, if you get a CS degree and don't go straight into hard CS, you will forget most everything you learned in a few years, not to mention miss out on years of focused practice.