Are we okay with where support is now?

We did have a lot of support changes waaaaay back at the start of s4. It's nice that we no longer have to buy H.O.G., Kage's, boots, and 70 wards in a 40 minute game. Now we're at the point where we get ~2/3 the income of the other four roles, buy the 800g , 100g each and or (if you actually finish it) , leaving us on average of a total build looking like on average in a 40 minute match. Certainly an increase from 0... but when everyone else on the team has items like and , you really don't contribute much from your items in comparison. The goal of giving cheap items that offer a lot of utility but not a lot of scaling has certainly helped, and (though somewhat contradictory), giving supports utility scaling also made big items actually give a benefit. But how often do you see a build ? Almost never, and when you do, that's ALL she has, and it doesn't really add up to much. She's better off with the standard utility/minor defensive build, because she simply cannot afford the base stats AND the multipliers another champion could. 600 ap on a mid is standard - 200 ap on a support is maximum. The biggest source of this problem is that a method that allows a champion to get gold without farming basically just gives gold without any effort. Why would you farm for 15k if you can just select masteries for 15k? You can hug tower and never do anything. If items get too gold efficient, why doesn't Ahri grab that 120 ap item that costs 2k? As was brought up before, if Sighstone gave 400 health and upgraded to a heavy tank, ap, or utility item, why wouldn't EVERYONE get one? It's hard to buff supports without buffing other roles just as much. So, my first question is... is this what the goal is? Have we reached the "ideal" position for supports? I kind of hope not... I am willing to give up damage and stats to help teammates, but if I put a support champion in a solo lane (and don't just lose), I can actually support much much better just due to my gold income. Really, I think the only way supports will ever be as strong as other lanes is if they either can get exclusive access to very powerful items for cheap, or have methods to get as much gold as other lanes. With that in mind, if we AREN'T happy with where supports are... why not buff Scavenger? Right now, the -only- way to get money from it is by someone farming next to you... i.e, being a support. It's deep enough in the utility tree where marksman would lose more than they would gain by picking it up and making their supports farm. If it was 4g instead of 1g, or even more, that would be a solid way to buff support income without impacting other roles at all. Sure, it does mean your effectiveness is based on your marksman's farm... but your marksman's success is based on your ability to protect them. I feel that's more than fair. What are you guys' viewpoint on the role as a whole?