Even lame old IBM is making $244,447 in profit per employee according to this BI article: http://www.businessinsider.com/top-tech-companies-revenue-pe...

If we safely assume that IBM has a lot of unproductive admin staff who are collecting paychecks to surf Facebook all day, a competent and motivated developer is actually bringing a lot more than $244,447 in additional profits to the table.

That, and most "QOs" I've encountered are fronts/whitewash/greenwash/etc for larger and more malevolent concerns.

Without a major streak of luck, I think living small and setting a good example is the best any of us can reliably do.