Who should learn to code? Everyone.

I don't agree that everyone should learn to code. It's just not that essential a skill. Consider that if one does not know how to read, write or perform arithmetic, one will be left out of most available occupations. That's definitely not the case with coding.

This is not to say that we should not give everyone the opportunity to try it, if you like coding then more power to you. But computer programming is quite alien to the way many people think.

Consider that I quite commonly meet people who do not own computers and don't want to. It's not that they don't have the money to purchase a computer or Internet service - they really do not want to be involved with that kind of technology. I don't regard these people as in any way backwards nor educationally challenged. One such is a deputy sheriff. He uses computers for his work, but when he's off work he never touches them.