>but the reason we're paid a lot of money is that many couldn't force themselves to do it even if they wanted to. By this logic, SWEs working in safety-critica

>but the reason we're paid a lot of money is that many couldn't force themselves to do it even if they wanted to. By this logic, SWEs working in safety-critical embedded domains would make much more than those working in FAANG. I would argue their job is more complex (they have to know failure modes, not just of software, but of hardware), obviously more critical (failure means people may die), and often more stressful because of those reasons. Yet they generally get paid much lower salaries than FAANG or basic CRUD app developers. It's not because more people can do what they do; I'd argue there is a much smaller pool to pull from. It's because the FAANG-type companies contribute more to the economy (real or perceived). Even if that's bullocks, that's the main reason behind the high rates of pay. Now, you can extend that same fact to non-SWE jobs and the same pattern holds.