This kind of feels like the difference between the nations of Extremistan (extreme variance in outcome) and Mediocristan (normal distribution in outcome) from N

This kind of feels like the difference between the nations of Extremistan (extreme variance in outcome) and Mediocristan (normal distribution in outcome) from Nassim Nicholas Taleb's "The Black Swan". For example those with the largest adjusted incomes probably live in the safest areas where one can get comfortably wealthy over a long period of time. However, they probably forgo the option at huge wins by shirking the cost/risk of getting a tech startup lottery ticket. Same thing occurs with those who go into med/law/normal engineering. They essentially shoot themselves in the head to take themselves off the lottery list and put themselves on the steady, safe and slow wealth generation list. Those in extremistan pay a greater entry fee in terms of risk vs. reward to play the finance/startup lottery and have a small shot at winning really big. In turn, risk adjusted their salaries are pitiful when adjusted for risk/cost of living - but somewhat decent if you factor in the value of the lottery ticket.