You are literally the example that younger folks are disillusioned with. Retired with benefits and decent pay for grinding is not something that happens anymore. Saying "well it worked for me so you must not be trying hard enough" is a false assumption and also condensending.
Put yourself in someone else's shoes. Imagine you worked your ass off and grinded and learned and were never rewarded for that effort. That is by far most genx/mil/genz expirence in the US, and why we are angry.
Grinding and getting a raise for working hard in a corperate structure is a dream that only happened to old folks.