You know Christophe, I couldn’t agree more.

“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.” — Charles Darwin.

It was never supposed to be this way, and society should always be first and foremost concerned with the well-being of its members.

We are valued by companies and our governments for our ability to generate profit. The only reason that UI/UX designers get paid what they do is because our work is infinitely replicatable through digital experiences, and leverages value at scale to make that happen.

We create experiences and interfaces that help users get what they want in exchange for money. If another designer can do it better, faster, or cheaper, we will eventually get replaced; if not by a more seasoned professional, then by automation.

There’s never going to be a good, satisfying answer for how jacked up things have gotten, and that is essentially, as you put it, the long story short.