all the people in IT I know earn reasonally salaries, ranging from 50k-100k, or even more.

I think if one have the 10/h wage doing IT job for a long time, he either is extremely unlucky, or too blind to find the reason of the problem on himself. Don't blame the society or the country. I don't see any senario you described so I can't imagine that -meat_head(_) 2006-6-9