As someone who does a ton of Node/JS coding as well as some Python, I am personally offended! Ok, not really, but I think you're wrong :)
I think VB is more similar to Python in the sense that both languages were designed with some sense of simplicity and straight-forwardness in mind.
Both PHP and Javascript are much more complex from a language design standpoint, which makes them more difficult to learn "well" for beginners. Yes, they are both hugely prolific because of the web, and lots of people copy/paste code around not having any clue how it works, so I won't deny your "generations of garbage" comment. But you're assessment is a little too simplistic.
A good engineer can write high quality code in "almost" any programming language. It's the coder, not the language, that determines engineering quality.
I think VB is more similar to Python in the sense that both languages were designed with some sense of simplicity and straight-forwardness in mind.
Both PHP and Javascript are much more complex from a language design standpoint, which makes them more difficult to learn "well" for beginners. Yes, they are both hugely prolific because of the web, and lots of people copy/paste code around not having any clue how it works, so I won't deny your "generations of garbage" comment. But you're assessment is a little too simplistic.
A good engineer can write high quality code in "almost" any programming language. It's the coder, not the language, that determines engineering quality.