Well, think of it like this: I worked hard, contributed hard, and chased the American dream. I found it distasteful and repugnant - so I moved.
(And, btw, $2,000,000 is hardly "high-roller" status, spread out in taxes over 15 years... unless of course you're one of those "living under a bridge because medical bankrupcy" Americans, lol..)
If you've paid 30% effective federal tax rate (which is what I am guessing about right for a single individual with this kind of income) you'd have to make about 450K per year over 15 years to get to 2M in taxes. If you counted CA taxes then it drops your average income to 330K. My guess is that you are either miscalculating your taxes or misdescribing your experiences (overpriced housing in LA circa 2001 while making 330-450K for example does not quite make sense).
This person is so out of touch with reality, thinking 330k+ is barely out of "living under the bridge because of medical debt" territory, that for someone of fairly modest background like myself I may as well be talking to an alien. Yet they seem to legitimately think they narrowly escaped the rocks of poverty.
