"When those far removed from the creation of wealth -- undergraduates, reporters, politicians -- hear that the richest 5% of the people have half the total wealth, they tend to think injustice! An experienced programmer would be more likely to think is that all? The top 5% of programmers probably write 99% of the good software."
Yet, the top 5% of programmers don't get a disproportionate amount of the money, someone else typically does. There is a giant disconnect between those who get the most money and those who add the most value to society. Who's added more value to society, Linus Torvalds or Jason Calcanis? Who's gotten more money? How much value do hedge fund managers add to society compared to the amount of money they make? How much value have the coders of mysql added to society versus the amount of money they have made?
"Why do people move to suburbia? To have kids! So no wonder it seemed boring and sterile. The whole place was a giant nursery, an artificial town created explicitly for the purpose of breeding children."
Yet, the top 5% of programmers don't get a disproportionate amount of the money, someone else typically does. There is a giant disconnect between those who get the most money and those who add the most value to society. Who's added more value to society, Linus Torvalds or Jason Calcanis? Who's gotten more money? How much value do hedge fund managers add to society compared to the amount of money they make? How much value have the coders of mysql added to society versus the amount of money they have made?