But a carpenter is not an architect. The barrier to entry for pure programming is rather low. I see programming today as in a similar state as auto mechanics

But a carpenter is not an architect. The barrier to entry for pure programming is rather low. I see programming today as in a similar state as auto mechanics was in the 1970s & early 80s in the US. If you had good sense and aptitude, you could be one, and the barrier to entry was very low. Now it's different. You (for the most part) need some sort of certification to be a "grease monkey;" and even then, you are fixing, tuning and rebuilding engines, not designing them.