Well-structured
The main cause is Economic Impact l think

If we can't agree on tabs vs spaces I'm not sure how good we are at collective action

I'm confident that less than 100 of those 28.7 million developers contributed to 80% of the code that is in use today.

If this is true, then they (the 100) will be working a lot of ChatGPT and Co-pilot-assisted overtime, while the strikers starve (I don't see that elite group joining the strikers).

This could potentially lead to tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, and Microsoft going bankrupt.

Sadly, I believe the opposite would be true. A striker is not on the payroll while striking, so those companies' costs plummet. Not only that, but it provides them with the perfect excuse to further excise their workforce. Combine that with a few share buybacks (a practice, by the way, which I believe should be outlawed), and you have created a few trillionaires !

If politicians grew spines, and actually legislated for the benefit of their constituents, instead of for their very rich donors or masters, then perhaps socially beneficial (in the workforce and elsewhere) change might be effected.

An entertaining, inventive, article, by the way, intended, as I interpret it, to be humorous. Thank you for that.

Regrettably, I find the subject matter quite serious, and find it difficult to laugh when I see the trajectory in which our world is headed.

It's an excellent question to ponder upon, but probably highly unlikely. Even if everyone agrees, there will be people who switch immediately for the money due to the skew in supply and demand.

Wait why are software engineers striking?

Two things:
First - good work on writing an article maybe you haven’t written an article for a long time and getting this done must have been an achievement.
Second - You are abusing the 80/20 rule. This rule states only 20% of what we do in a day leads to 80% of result. Do not apply 80/20 rule to anything and everything.
Anyways - the math is wrong. You figure out what’s 20% off 28 million. I am confident it’s not hundred. You can’t simply say if we use Pareto principal then only 20% of what human body consist of leads to 80% of entire human functioning. You also can’t say only 20% of the components used in MacBook leads to 80% of its entire functioning.

Good luck for future articles.

Okay, but ... why are we striking? (And, to be clear, I'm not striking with you.)

Sadly, one thing is left out. While I appreciate the thought experiment, a lot of us work remotely and will be more than happy to step in and earn mega bucks coding for those they think they have any type of leverage.

I've done scab work before, the pay is amazing. Long hours, but I'll do it for a month or two.

I owe nothing to anyone striking, if they don't want their job, I'll take it if the pay is right. And secure my ability to get employed for the rest of my life.

Thats a negative thought.

I want to add a thing that there are so many things which is better than striking.

1.> We need to fix the market price for our products or service.
2.> The calculations for calculating the budget of our product or service.
3.> We need to understand the value of our work also and set the budget according to it.
*4.> Because by our single service or product the business will last for long. I also thought there must be a loyalty system also, we need to discuss these points further with our whole community.
*
Thankyou

Thank you for the article. I would say that developers need to learn Chatgpt and similar AI's weaknesses, or learn to work along with the AI. If you build a business that supports or encourages AI on the platform then you cover your vulnerability and won't get left behind. Since everything is moving that direction a one-time-strike isn't going to solve the problem. It may yield temporary gains but inevitably won't put a dent in the problem. But if AGI comes on the scene, don't worry, we'll probably all be suffering together at least. :-)

"I'm confident that less than 100 of those 28.7 million developers contributed to 80%" - This is insane. At least 20% of the code in-use today was written by developers who aren't even alive anymore. I'm looking at you COBOL, Banks and Insurance Companies.

Given the current political situation, with Trump as president, Elon Musk overtly supporting extreme right parties everywhere and imposing Starlink as internet network practically on Europe, given the support of Bezos (Amazon), Google, Meta to rightwing policies, I think that socially aware software developers are now facing an ethical dilemma, especially those working in the forementioned companies. Do we really want to contribute with our work to products that foster antidemocratic movements? Think about r recent declaration by Zuckerberg that factchecking on his social networks will be cancelled? I think that a global strike of software developers would be sorely needed now, and not for salary issues, but for democracy. And that would be a tremendous hit to the broligarchy.