Alright, I think this is the first time I've read through 11 pages of a thread ever, but here is what I've gathered. If you truly want to land a 50k job, you have to get a degree. I realize you may be a "smart" person, a lot of people are smart, you just need to have a piece of paper and a shitload of debt to prove it. Take classes through a community college for two years, it hardly costs anything in the grand scheme. Then after you get all your BS classes out of the way enroll at a relatively prestigious school and get your degree. Then at least you have a better chance of making 50k. Even being in school, the number of people who graduate with a bachelors that are making over 50 is pretty small, if you aren't a business major or engineer that number is probably zero. Thankfully I'm a business major and I'm making a shitload for my internship this summer, as are a few of my good friends and we're only 21.
I think you need to look at some facts here, what is the average salary in the states now? Like 35ish? Look at the the number of people with college degrees now, than look at all the people older than you that have put forth the time and energy to advance that their companies in order to make more money. After all of that not to be a dick, but being smart doesn't automatically put you significantly above average at the end of the day.
I found this article and wasn't at all surprised by the facts, and I feel like they've already been mentioned here...
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/censusandstatistics/a/collegepays.htm
Good luck with everything man, and despite everything I said if you truly feel you are worth more, and aren't happy with what you are getting, hold out and something will come along.
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