[ido]

It's easy to think so if you've been programming for a while, but try to teach programming to kids (or adults) and realize this really does depend on some inherent ability and/or interest (and this is even with a self-selected group who chose to go to a programming course).

You probably can get most everyone programming at a basic level, like we did with reading and writing, by requiring it at a primary school level.

However, a lot of these people will be about as useful as professional programmers as the average person is as a professional author.