"For comparison, if I were to take a software engineering job right now, I would earn a minimum of 160K (like at a startup with high equity) but more like 220K+. Plus sign-on bonus ($20-120K), stock options, annual performance bonus (10-40%), etc."

So this might add up to 300K. Which is a number that is unprecedented in history. Throughout most of history and to this day in pretty much every place in the world, such a salary would be reserved for the executive branch. It's an insanely high compensation largely made possible by a local tech boom, excessive venture capital, very high local living expenses, and the nature of startups, where maximum spending is considered good: 300K can be afforded because of the potential exit.

That's not how 99.99999% of the jobs work, so the comparison is odd. Not at a personal level, but definitely at a societal level.