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I have mixed feelings about this. As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Jav

I have mixed feelings about this. As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? Same goes with football/basketball/etc.. players whose sole purpose in life and responsibilities are to throw a ball somewhere and for that, they are covered in gold! I think doctors should be paid a lot of money and on the other hand, many other professionals should be paid way less compared to what they make now! That said, this proves, yet another time, how unfair and inefficient this whole health insurance system is. Health care should be a universal right and should be provided as a public service at a minimum cost for single contributors. People have the right to getting sick and receive the best possible care without going bankrupt or having to sell their houses for it. It is that simple. On this, the EU model wins hands down compared to the US one. And it's time for Americans to open their eyes and realize how unfairly they have been treated in this regard for their entire lives.

mettamage 7y ago
Don't worry, that's only the in the US. In Switzerland, for example, many people are paid a lot. They also pay a lot. In The Netherlands, psychiatrists have a higher entry level salary than the average CS grad.
- aheilbut 7y ago
  They also have a lot more training and responsibility than the average CS grad.
- asperous 7y ago
  From what I understand psychiatrists are one of the highest paying professions
- zepto 7y ago
  That’s why so many Netherlands tech companies are international household names.
mrep 7y ago
> As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? Programmers only make that because the services they build are extremely scalable, profitable, and wanted by many driving up demand for programmers. Eventually, supply should drive down wages which is fair. I also don't mind doctors making good money but they should not be able to artificially constrain supply just so they can jack up their prices.
- zanny 7y ago
  What gets me at the end of the day is that almost the entire institution that makes programming "valuable" is wholly fictitious and socially constructed. Without institutional international copyright and IP protection the vast majority of software produced would not generate nearly as much revenue per developer hour as it does today. The entire industry is basically an accident caused by greedy corporations extending copyright indefinitely for a century before the commoditization of computation happened and suddenly having the correct number could make you impossibly rich while you were given government protections of your exclusive ownership of said number. When you look at the stock market and you see ludicrous P/E ratios on companies like Google and Amazon it must be acknowledged the only reason money sees them as being so valuable is because governments the world over have awarded them, through employee ingenuity or acquisition, exclusive permanent monopolies to millions of ideas enshrined in copyrights any of which could explode into an infinite money machine on any given Tuesday. Paired with their treasure troves of harvested data on people they are the largest entities in existence not for the actual real world value they produce but for the untenable position they now occupy with the force of the state and international trade standing behind them to preserve their position as the total arbiters of information. Its really gross, and I have to live every day knowing that I largely do this (the programming, computers, tech, etc) on the back of a power structure enshrined and grown cancerous over centuries with the intent to exploit perpetual monopolies on ideas.
  - mrep 7y ago
com2kid 7y ago
> As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? FAANG companies make from 500k to over 1 million dollars in revenue per employee. Paying someone 1/10th to 1/4rd of what they bring in is hardly outrageous.
- novaRom 7y ago
  How about paying fair taxes? Why we as society tolerate all these offshore tax avoidencies?
deanCommie 7y ago
> As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? That is once again a US-centric view. The rest of the world doesn't overpay their programmers to nearly the same degree. It's a comfortable wage. Upper middle class. But the equivalent of "entry-level six figures", not "six figures, then a couple times over beyond that for good measure".

mettamage 7y ago

Don't worry, that's only the in the US. In Switzerland, for example, many people are paid a lot. They also pay a lot. In The Netherlands, psychiatrists have a higher entry level salary than the average CS grad.

aheilbut 7y ago
They also have a lot more training and responsibility than the average CS grad.
asperous 7y ago
From what I understand psychiatrists are one of the highest paying professions
zepto 7y ago
That’s why so many Netherlands tech companies are international household names.

mrep 7y ago

> As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? Programmers only make that because the services they build are extremely scalable, profitable, and wanted by many driving up demand for programmers. Eventually, supply should drive down wages which is fair. I also don't mind doctors making good money but they should not be able to artificially constrain supply just so they can jack up their prices.

zanny 7y ago
What gets me at the end of the day is that almost the entire institution that makes programming "valuable" is wholly fictitious and socially constructed. Without institutional international copyright and IP protection the vast majority of software produced would not generate nearly as much revenue per developer hour as it does today. The entire industry is basically an accident caused by greedy corporations extending copyright indefinitely for a century before the commoditization of computation happened and suddenly having the correct number could make you impossibly rich while you were given government protections of your exclusive ownership of said number. When you look at the stock market and you see ludicrous P/E ratios on companies like Google and Amazon it must be acknowledged the only reason money sees them as being so valuable is because governments the world over have awarded them, through employee ingenuity or acquisition, exclusive permanent monopolies to millions of ideas enshrined in copyrights any of which could explode into an infinite money machine on any given Tuesday. Paired with their treasure troves of harvested data on people they are the largest entities in existence not for the actual real world value they produce but for the untenable position they now occupy with the force of the state and international trade standing behind them to preserve their position as the total arbiters of information. Its really gross, and I have to live every day knowing that I largely do this (the programming, computers, tech, etc) on the back of a power structure enshrined and grown cancerous over centuries with the intent to exploit perpetual monopolies on ideas.
- mrep 7y ago

com2kid 7y ago

> As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? FAANG companies make from 500k to over 1 million dollars in revenue per employee. Paying someone 1/10th to 1/4rd of what they bring in is hardly outrageous.

novaRom 7y ago
How about paying fair taxes? Why we as society tolerate all these offshore tax avoidencies?

deanCommie 7y ago

> As society, we seem to be ok with millennials fresh out of college making hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year for a bunch Javascript that allows people to share pictures of their butt with their friends BUT we are not ok with doctors who literally - save lives - getting paid according to their responsibilities? That is once again a US-centric view. The rest of the world doesn't overpay their programmers to nearly the same degree. It's a comfortable wage. Upper middle class. But the equivalent of "entry-level six figures", not "six figures, then a couple times over beyond that for good measure".