[joe_the_user]

"This sort of line of thought is so harmful."

Even if the argument you mention is wrong, it's only harmful in a sort of fluffy world where good things die when looked at critically.

There's nothing magical about programming that makes it different from any other industry.

These days there's immense competition in every industry. If anything, your argument seems to be that programming is different from other industries and that just skills can get you anywhere even if there appear to be many others who also have skills and better looking resumes. I hope that's true but let's at least look critically.