Its simple supply and demand. I am in eastern Europe (Romania to be precise). Software Engineers are paid 5-8x above median. Cost of living is low, so life is p

Its simple supply and demand. I am in eastern Europe (Romania to be precise). Software Engineers are paid 5-8x above median. Cost of living is low, so life is pretty good. No guilt here. The industry is screaming for people. There are lots of companies here which hire you with little to no experience and pay you a median wage. Study/learn for a year and you're making 2x the median wage. Don't feel guilty. They can make the same amount of money if they wanted to.