I'm not too sure about the advantage to being the "...best-paid pilots in the industry...". Perhaps one should strive to be the "...longest, most consistently paid...". After all, a career is a marathon, not a sprint.
I used to work for a major US carrier that was widely acknowledged as the best paid in the industry. Now they are in bankruptcy, I've lost a portion of my retirement income with the rest go shortly, and the pilots still working are facing a 50% cut in those previously industry-leading payrates and the loss of their retirements also.
Did the high payrates contribute to this predicament ? Probably to a degree, but they're not the sole cause, but a part of the problem.
This is the "bottle rocket effect"...lots of flash and speed in the short term, followed by a burnout and crash to earth from high altitude. Maybe a "sparkler" would've been wiser.