the democratisation of programming

Sitting at work browsing through code and documentation recently, I came to the realisation that computer programming is easier now than it has ever been. Programming languages are more accessible, development environments increasingly more cuddly, and the number of prefabricated parts has exploded.
So now any Tom, Dick or Harry can program.
And what's more, almost any Tom, Dick or Harry can create his or her own programming languages and environments, which has happened more than successfully on more than one occasion.
This is simultaneously very good and very bad.
Lowering the barrier to entry deconcentrates power out of the hands of few. But it also heavily dilutes the skill of the few in the incompetence and mediocrity of the many. When programming was hard, incompetence was weeded out by 'natural selection'. Now incompetence is rife. And for the beginner, wading through all this crud can be quite uncomfortable. And potentially damaging. When you're developing on top of broken items, it's easy to fall into a broken rut yourself.
The solution? Keep your eyes open at all times, and question everything.
Having said that, I did read an interesting article recently about how 'Worse is better'. But I think that's definitely a case of breaking the rules once you know them.