If you want to have a say in how software works, then you have to control how companies run.
If Technical folk are not on the Boards or have controlling share in an org, or don't know how to get into such positions then they have very little to no say in how anything works.
There are countless examples were technical people object and get replaced, sidelined or fired, cuz they are totally unprepared in how to win such age old political and financial fights. If Oppenheimer, Engelbart and the Google brainiacs who protested recently got pushed aside, then its beyond obvious how the story will end for anyone else.
The lesson from history for anyone serious about this stuff is - develop business+finance acumen, or develop alliances with business+finance power.
You speak like working at a company exists in a vacuum. It doesn't. You are (generally, in Western society) free to stop working for that company. If everyone refuses to write the code, then the company won't have that code. Easily said than done, of course, because life has many pressures. But I dislike this "oh can't do anything about it individually, let's give up and double down on unethical behaviour" attitude (meanwhile we are conveniently paid a high salary for it). We always have a choice.
You dont have to either blame one set of people or another. You could put the blame in the right place instead, the design of the system which all but dictates the individuals choices.
If Technical folk are not on the Boards or have controlling share in an org, or don't know how to get into such positions then they have very little to no say in how anything works.
There are countless examples were technical people object and get replaced, sidelined or fired, cuz they are totally unprepared in how to win such age old political and financial fights. If Oppenheimer, Engelbart and the Google brainiacs who protested recently got pushed aside, then its beyond obvious how the story will end for anyone else.
The lesson from history for anyone serious about this stuff is - develop business+finance acumen, or develop alliances with business+finance power.