Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't think the poster of your parent comment would disagree with your explanation of the how things are; they're only saying that's not how it should be. If we lived in a just meritocracy, people who created millions of dollars in value with their code would be compensated with millions of dollars, but this is rarely, if ever, the case. It's this fact which makes libertarian arguments about the unfairness of tax a…
The are great advantages to individuals and society to paying less than the value of goods and services. If my daughter is ill, and a simple shot of antibiotics will cure her, should I pay $20 for that, or should I pay what saving her life is actually worth to me? I've enjoyed ever faster internet connection speed at my home (coming in two weeks -- gigabit!) I assure you I'm not paying the full value of what that spe…
Okay, so what's the society of my boss getting paid twice as much as me while actively impeding my ability to create value?
Also, antibiotics and internet are poor examples of market economics; both are heavily subsidized and regulated. So it's disingenuous to hold these up and then in your following paragraph claim that market economics is helping humanity.
> Market economics has some serious downsides, but it has vastly increased the welfare of humanity. More people have been coming out of poverty in China in the past few decades that ever before in human history.
How do you justify attributing this to free market economics?
> If you feel it is unfair that as a developer you can create millions of dollars in value that you aren't being compensated for, then I recommend you consider ways that you could be compensated for this value. Perhaps instead of being an employee, maybe get involved in a start-up with equity (or found a company.) Having done so, I can assure you it's more nerve wracking than ever I would have expected, and harder to unleash the millions in value than one might expect, but it's still fun, challenging, rewarding, and worth giving a go! :-)
I do think it's unfair, but I actually don't care, because I'm self-aware enough to realize that the way in which our economy hurts me is nothing compared to how it hurts most people. I'm incredibly lucky to have landed in a career where things are only as unfair as they are, and I'd much rather work toward helping people in worse situations than me than in fixing the minor injustice of getting paid less than management.