Yup, the industry sucks and have no clue what makes a good developer or good software. Your post reminds me of an interview I had with Amazon where after the 3rd interview they informed me there were going to be another 9. I politely told them to fuck themselves. Best thing to do is what you have done, go out on your own and try to start something better. Developers need to take control of their earnings and not rely on idiotic corporations like Google etc, that way we can be paid what we deserve and work with languages and tools that aren’t completely broken.