We don't have any extraordinary skills that entitles us to 3-4 times the salary that a top notch mechanical engineer or teacher deserves.

It's about impact. One software engineer with a laptop and internet connection can do a lot more than a far better skilled mechanical engineer in the current world. Like I mentioned earlier, luck has it that we're still a high impact profession. This may change in future.

Let's disagree about this one. 🙂 Someone building yet another high-performance platform for folks to exchange LOLCats pictures isn't what I consider impact. It is unfortunate we consider this high impact work compared to someone building machinery that might revolutionize farming or manufacturing. This sums up my feeling best: “The best minds of my generation are thinking about how to make people click ads. That sucks.”

Someone building yet another high-performance platform for folks to exchange LOLCats pictures isn't what I consider impact.

This is dangerously judgemental and misguided. FWIW, cat pictures may give people an avenue to soothingly pass their time when they're done building a covid-19 vaccine. Or after they've built a revolutionary farming machine. Who knows! You cannot claim one is better than the other. You cannot presume to judge what gets used and how. An industrial strength software can result from years working on and maintaining "ad servers" that serve a lot of traffic. This software in turn can go and fuel other good things.

I agree it is judgemental - my apologies. I will now go put away my sense of social equality acquired in the Nordics. It can't be applied to India in the current context.

Say more about social equality acquired in the Nordics. That sounds interesting.

In the US (and for that matter in India), a CEO can earn 10000x of a janitor or clerk. And there are plenty of loopholes to avoid paying most taxes. In the Nordics, that ratio is more like 10x. And the CEO pays 50-60% taxes. And pays more fines in actual euro terms for the same violation of rules so that it hurts them as much as the janitor (relatively speaking). And at the end of the day, they both end up vacationing for a month every year in the same places in Spain, Greece, etc. Because even a teacher or janitor or bus driver can afford that trip and is guaranteed that vacation in law. Quality public education ensures that your parent's ability to pay fees doesn't determine your future. Free healthcare ensures the same for your health. My concern is that I'm only hearing about our entitlement to higher salaries but nothing about what happens as a result. It is my personal opinion that it doesn't benefit others in trickle-down economics as much as we like to think it does.

trickle-down economics

I don't understand how trickle-down economics comes in picture here. We're talking about salaries and fairness.

Just wanted to address this comment, w/o restarting the discussion 🙂 The point was that 5 developers @ 80K will improve the lives of a wider group of people than 2 developers @ 200K. That is trickle down economics as a result of network theory that underpins UBI, the Nordic welfare model, etc. The 80K is very generous compared to local levels so it isn't exploitation while it still keeps companies interested in talent here. By forcing companies to pay SFO salaries, we slow down the rise in the overall standard of living and increase wage gaps that will eventually lead to social unrest. Anybody that wants SFO salaries could just move there, no?