You're mixing and matching the vague "as much as most tech workers" with the quite specific statement about their incomes relative to a bus driver in the early

You're mixing and matching the vague "as much as most tech workers" with the quite specific statement about their incomes relative to a bus driver in the early 80s. I'm at a multiplier between 2-4x U.S. median household income and based on listings I see I feel that range is very good but not "oh my gosh howdeedodat?!?" for developers. Hired.com, for instance, sets the floor for jobs it will show right around 1.5x median income ($75k). Real wages in the economy are stagnant and we in technology may be sitting on the sundeck of a sinking ship so I understand the "higher up in the stack but the stack is collapsing" aspect of your argument. That said, I totally disagree that a bus driver in 1981 was better off than a software developer in 2015 - there's just no way that makes any sense.