A guild would help present us as the professionals that we are. It would encourage talented people to join the profession and it would actively recruit members among all segments of the population. Lobbying As distasteful as politics is, especially to programmers, there are many pieces of legislation that directly impact us. Drug Testing Non-compete clauses Software Patents We need to be organized to have our voices heard. Professional Standards Civil Engineers rarely build buildings that fall down.
Software engineers build systems that fall apart all the time.
Isn't it frustrating when external forces have you working on a project that is going to collapse under its own weight because it did not follow the right steps. We'll sell you the bodies by the hour. Maybe you work for a company outside the software industry and the management simply does not know how to create software. A Guild could set standards to be followed and have the prestige to back them up. Clearly it is not education.