Yes, I'd wish we could all be equal and that all games would be public and free for everyone, but...
The ones who make AE need money to live, and their servers need money to be maintained
in the current society. The advantages aren't that big before you've reached a high level.
I think AE is one of the most fair games I've seen in this area, it's not like construction, production or economy becomes faster simply by paying them - you still have to continue your development under the exact same rules as everybody else. It also seems fairly cheap, compared to other games, but of course what is cheap to me can be very expensive to someone else.
If you don't want to play it, I won't tell you not to, though, it's your own choice.