>>If I'm an American developer, I want as few developers to be available so that my wages rise.

The door for this has closed quite a while ago. These days with a laptop and a internet connection there are a lot of things you can learn and do.

Basically we lowered the barrier to entry big time.

In fact many of us have a job today because of this low barrier to entry.

Now to expect the door be shut right behind us is in a way morally wrong. Nor the way how things work.

If you are in your career for more than 5-10 years and the only thing that you can offer to a potential company is the ability to Sling code, why shouldn't your job be outsourced? Being able to sling code is a commodity.

It took me a while, but I think I've developed enough architectural and soft skills to not be lumped in the pool of easily outsource code slingers.

So now you'd be outsourced to a manager, analyst and a "code slinger" in India? (and your manager too)

It is always a question of price and achievable quality. One works against the other, partly.

Realistically, do you see management and architects being outsourced to India en masse?

Yes

I can imagine a 1960s steel-industry manager making a similar statement.

You can relatively easy draw a schematic and decide exactly how you want a piece of steel to be made. Have you ever seen a successful software project development and maintained based on a spec and not based on constant interaction between the customer and some tech lead?

Have you noticed how the customers are moving their work to other countries? Your argument becomes one for moving the software development, including its management, with it.

This is somewhat beside the point, however. The people my hypothetical steel-industry manager is based on failed to imagine how the world was going to change and could not imagine that people in less-developed countries could be as competent as themselves.

Then there is AI. It has taken a long time, but it is coming.