the above reply was in response to what i read as a dismissive post about middle aged programmers in general.
it had nothing to do with my wage level. that is not something i have never cared about much, and the idea that the quote was "all about" wage seems somewhat odd to me.
maybe i misunderstood. i don't think so, but i would delete the post above and walk away if i could. i can't, so i am posting this qualification.
Help yourself out. If you were paid what you're really worth, you wouldn't have any desire to say that. I'm sure there are programmers out there reading HN who make over 200 grand (or are wealthy from other means) who are not trying to say "fuck you" to me, because they are in the class of professionals who are actually paid what they're worth.
Is this you? Wonder why you're based in Chile.... something to do with the cost of living, perhaps? Wage arbitrage means you don't disagree with me at all, in fact you seem to be in vehement concurrence.
I said people who are middle aged and not paid what they are worth are pathetic.
So what you're saying is that you work for less than you are worth.
Can I ask you why you feel the desire to go work at a job where you are paid LESS than you are worth? There are plenty of programming jobs available for smart people in the 200k+/year category, which is what a real professional in any other industry makes.
You are either fundamentally misunderstanding my message, or are a complete and utter tool.
I don't think programmers are really worth more as they age. Experience lets you add more value to a point (probably around 10 years), but lots of young programmers are equally if not more productive. Many are willfully ignorant of "business" concerns and make terrible managers.
It's not a scalable career for most people.
Making $200k+/yr is not especially hard in high cost of living markets, but it's also not a lot of money there. In New York, 22-year-old Analysts at Goldman make ~125k all-in and most live in crappy studio apartments.
