is it really worth it to become good?

the gap from good enough to get a job to 100x programmer is huge. you have to give up so much for so little. it seems like a bad tradeoff. the only people who will be able to tell the difference are like 3 of your fat neck beard friends. the benefit is not proportional to the cost.

Let's put it this way:
Any programmer that knows his worth will use his skill.  If you're good enough to set up and maintain your own personal botnet, I suggest you do so.  You can then use the fruits of your labor for whatever purpose you deem necessary.  You could also start your own business and have other people do the grunt work while you concentrate on the heavy lifting.  Shit, even a basic networking education could help you knock a bunch of people off the internet at your local cafe. 

You shouldn't treat your skillset like some RPG statistic.  Instead, focus on how your skillset can give you real-world power.  Charge $1000 for a Wordpress site that costs $25 for a pro theme & ~$80 for hosting, then profit.  Fix someone's Excel spreadsheet and charge out the ass for what took less than an hour to fix. 

If you spend all of your time being selfless, don't complain when you're hollow.

>>4 continued...
If you want to get fucked, the real world will let it happen.  You can end up working 10+ hour workdays for someone else getting paid the equivalent salary of an expert burgerflipper.  I've seen dreamers living wide awake nightmares. 

The only way out of being used is by having enough self-respect and ambition to do what must be done so that you reap the most benefit.  In a capitalist society, this is merely survival.

So I suggest getting paid, getting laid, and getting good programs made.