Well, I'm disagreeing with you and I don't use Perl at all any more, I switched to VBA.
Who is saying we should "crater the economy" depends on your opinion of what will crater the economy, but all sorts of people are demanding things that someone thinks will crater the economy. That's what happens in a crisis, things seem crazy so people start talking about radical actions.
It's not difficult for some random person to say something that is going to have no personal or collective consequence. Gates may be insulated, but his comments have the potential to influence people who might in turn affect him.