> self-reliant autodidacts What happens when your self-reliance fails you? > meritocracy of tech This is a pleasant lie we tell ourselves. Even open source (

> self-reliant autodidacts What happens when your self-reliance fails you? > meritocracy of tech This is a pleasant lie we tell ourselves. Even open source (which is 100% unpaid labor) is not meritocratic. Witness how quickly employers clamor for credentials. > We like the fact that better skills mean higher pay, regardless of seniority This is only half true. You generally don't get a massive raise by being a much better developer. You do get to the developer salary ceiling faster than others, of course. But the fact that there is a ceiling (despite the immense value a good dev can generate) is troubling. Casting aspersions about experience (in the guise of seniority) is also troubling. Perhaps the primary reason there's no collective action for developers is that a substantial number of developers are still in their twenties, and lack the perspective + career experience to realize what it could do for them. They're still mentally invincible, striving for the next big thing, and they don't want anyone's help.