You've extrapolated quite a bit. The truth is that I don't have a resolution, it is a very difficult problem that has many moving parts. The salaries that these 'highly talented' developers working on 'useless technology' command is not something that can easily brushed off.

Right, we agree on that. The salaries are a symptom of a system built on a number of perverse incentives that have ended up putting the majority of humanity's most productive minds to work thinking about stuff other than how to mitigate the catastrophe of the current mass extinction event