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Unlike doctors, lawyers, or skilled tradespeople, we glorify bootcamps that promise anyone can become a developer in weeks. We worship open source, working nights and weekends “to help the community,” while the market treats it as baseline.
The result? A flood of underqualified competitors, stagnant or declining wages, and a profession that has become disposable. We brag about how easy coding is, all while normalizing mediocrity and eroding the value of our own craft.
We didn’t just create software, as a matter of fact we cheapened ourselves. And now, the industry we built depends on our own overwork, generosity, and naivety.