I call myself a "developer" in precisely the way the author think of us, but I have no shame, or envy, of that. So I will first try to correct a bit of dismissiveness that I saw.
> those who took an 8-week crash course in web development
I studied 40 hours a week for 8 months to get my first job as a front-end developer. Not a full CS degree course, but there is a serious number of hours in there.
> I apologize if I’m doing a poor job of expressing my thoughts.
You are doing a poor job expressing your thoughts, because you sure look like a gatekeeper. Stop apologizing and start editing your text.
> After engineers find a job they like, they stop learning the hard stuff.
This is kind of a half-truth. I do think it is fair to say that some people, once they have a job, stop focusing on learning "hard stuff". I did it. But we don't stop learning "stuff", useful stuff for our jobs. In my case, things like CSS, UX, design, frontend frameworks.
> experimenting with a hot new web framework.
I don't experiment with "hot new web framework", I experiment with ways to build digital products in easier, faster ways. Or be able to build more complex problems.
> My goal is to articulate the importance of continuing education
It seems that your goal is to articulate the importance of continuing education of topics that you judge people should learn about.
> Over time, and often as soon as the first year of employment, “computer scientists” tend to move towards more fulfilling and well-compensated work, whether that’s well-funded open-source projects, technical leadership, or mission-critical commercial systems. “Developers” tend to continue doing what they’ve always done, learn a new framework, use an ORM to make simple database queries, or render information in a browser using a tool someone else made.
Ok, here is finally the point that I agree. You don't have to write a whole text dismissive of developers to make this point. Just focus on the argument that learning CS fundamentals makes you a stronger professional, it will reduce risks of unemployment in the long term, it will increase the chance of higher salary, it will increase the range of projects you can work on, thus increasing the chances of working a project you consider interesting and fulfilling.
Still, there are other ways to have a more anti-fragile career than learning CS fundamentals. I decided a very risky path of building projects that could earn my financial and time independence. I do think is more risky than learning CS fundamentals, but it is more suited for me.