Software is very scalable and can provide a lot of value. If you look at the revenue per SWE for Microsoft, Alphabet, Netflix, etc, then it's hard to compare them to the person whose job isn't scalable, to say a truck driver, nurse, or bartender.
So I agree with this but I think it distorts the true value. A nurse is worth way more to society than another SWE but the SWE gets paid way more. Bankers get paid a lot because they control money supply but I don’t think most people believe bankers are helping them or wish we had more bankers. Software is going down a similar path (see artist outrage over AI) because the pull of money is too great.
I agree that the value to society and the economic value are two completely different things. I shining example of this principle is the 1980s corporate raiders that would buy a company, gut its pension program, and ride off with the profits.
