Maybe, but there are a number of reasons why you might not want to:
1) The US financial system is unsustainable. Specialize in it and you will find yourself out of a job eventually.
2) It's unethical. If you understand that your excess salary is coming from wealth that is stolen from people through the mechanism of inflation, then you may want to opt out of the corrupt system for peace of mind.
3) If the people actually understood how much they were screwed by this system, they would come after bankers, and that might include programmers at banks. This sort of happened in 2008 when bankers received threats. If the US system collapsed, they might receive more than threats. Note that, although traders and bankers are not the same, traders often use leverage with new money created by the banks and the Fed, and thus are just one hop away from the new money and are almost as culpable as the bankers. And besides, the angry hordes might not make such a subtle distinction; anyone associated with finance would be subject to retribution.
Oh don't be melodramatic. If the US financial system fails you'll be screwed no matter your industry if you're being paid in US currency. And angry mobs coming to lynch you? Give me a break, such a thing is unprecedented and the shear number of people in the field will provide protection even if that does happen (as will the amount of money you'd be making).
As for ethics: Perhaps the reason they are paid so much is because they, unlike you, are able to put aside petty issues like that.
Economics is not a morality play. Your "currency" isn't worth squat without someone to accept it as a medium of exchange.
Don't forget that gold was at times an inflationary currency that also happened to have the nasty side effect of destroying populations located in areas with good mines. Like, I dunno, most of what is now Mexico, for instance.
1) The US financial system is unsustainable. Specialize in it and you will find yourself out of a job eventually.
2) It's unethical. If you understand that your excess salary is coming from wealth that is stolen from people through the mechanism of inflation, then you may want to opt out of the corrupt system for peace of mind.
3) If the people actually understood how much they were screwed by this system, they would come after bankers, and that might include programmers at banks. This sort of happened in 2008 when bankers received threats. If the US system collapsed, they might receive more than threats. Note that, although traders and bankers are not the same, traders often use leverage with new money created by the banks and the Fed, and thus are just one hop away from the new money and are almost as culpable as the bankers. And besides, the angry hordes might not make such a subtle distinction; anyone associated with finance would be subject to retribution.