What useless shit are you going to buy with 'life changing' money exactly that a software developer's salary won't allow?
I still have the childish dream of wanting to change the world. Specifically, I want to be involved in certain kinds of political activism that will likely piss off a number of people, and I want to have enough money that I can support my family without needing to back off if my income source is threatened.
I’m lucky enough to be almost at that point due to startup equity.
But in developing and emerging economies you can make a huge impact.
I feel like anything that isn't addressing these two issues is re-arranging chairs on the Titanic as it's headed for a crash.
There are many groups with power that benefit from keeping people misinformed and unable to rationally determine what is truly in their own self interest, all the way from childhood indoctrination on through to old age.
I’d want to neutralize some of the most egregious uses of such misinformation before simply blaming the people entirely themselves.
But I started my career late. I had three different unrelated degrees (no student debt thankfully, I attended public schools), jumping to different fields in my career. I also need to be ready to support my all-single/divorced-female old family members (aunt, mom, grandma). I also will probably have kids in two years.
So a FAANG salary would be nice.
As with most things in life, the best path is the middle path.