Because demand outstrips supply. Though tech companies have conspired to pay us below what we're worth in market terms[1], it's still very comfortable.

Increasingly, I think some kind of professional association would be useful, largely to represent programmers' views regarding how technology affects society.

There's a pretty clear disconnect (visible on HN), between the interests of the programming-classes, and the exec/VC strata.

However, it's the latter group that always get to provide a sound-byte as the voice of technology in the news, to legislators, etc. etc.

Having a well-respected professional organization for the programming-classes could help shift the representation of "the tech industry" towards it's people and away from it's money, with regards to public debates about data autonomy, open standards, net neutrality, and privacy legislation.

[1] Most notably: https://pando.com/2014/01/23/the-techtopus-how-silicon-valle...