I'm just saying, compare what you're making to the average person your age. Take into account the amount of debt that comes along with some of the professions requiring extensive schooling. Also consider the conditions and work life balance (ex: welders can make a great deal of money however they are often away from home for months and work 6-7 days a week in rough conditions).

Even if you're not at FAANG, overall, we're making a lot of money working from a comfy chair with little to no required debt.

Comp's not insane in the rest of the industry, but is just about the only non-management route to the 1960s-1990s style middle class that remains. It's a lot of money compared to median income.

Even outside of FAANG the pay is still quite generous, at least from my experience in.... US/AU/UK/etc

You get paid so much for relatively so little. Housemate was a chef who's work was so much more demanding physically and worked stupid hours, and was paid a fraction compared to developers.