What I'm calling elite is indeed elite. Your insistence on telling me I'm wrong about what I've actually seen makes me think there's no point in talking to you further.
I'm pointing out a sociological fact.
You do not know the definition of lower middle class.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lower_middle_class
http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Software_Engineer_%2...
The median income for a programmer is $69,708. This falls into the lower middle class.
When Silicon Valley salaries are adjusted to account for cost of living, programmers making over $100,000 still fall into the LOWER middle class.
People who get into software chasing money and elite status are ignorant of the fact that programmers are not elite and do not have high social status. They have lower middle class status and pay--which is better than working class at least.
I guess you're right about failing to conform to colloquial myths and falsehoods. I tend to want to align my observations with facts and research rather than pop culture misunderstandings and ignorance.