> The alternative is to do the kind of work very few else can do.

I feel like that's a ridiculously arrogant worldview. There are nearly 8 billion people in the world. And by definition, half of the population is average/below average. It's supremely arrogant to think that you're vastly above average to the point of being irreplaceable.

Additionally, the issue is that given two equally-qualified candidates, one can do the work for less simply owing to the fact that they live in a region where the cost of living is much less. That's the issue I'm struggling to death with.