SV is also a meat grinder: the participants are well aware of that (maybe except during the early days of Google or non-GCP Google orgs). SV participants are highly ambitious folks who want to get paid more and deliver "impact" (whatever that means). It's an ego contest.
It's just that the participants always paint rosy pictures to the point that Media buys it and sells it.
I have to disagree, they are relevant. SV needs bodies for the various profit grinders and a way to put pressure on other elites. Wastefully discarding somewhat functioning humans isn't ideal.
Contractors don't really take away jobs from people and I see this as no different. The people capable of this are relatively small in number even in an industry full of talented people.
I wish I could just be a corporate cog for a few days a week and then do my own thing. Unfortunately, at least judging from the interviews I've had the last few months, HR/hiring is still looking at things from a full-time headcount perspective. Somebody complained about having to do paperwork for each employee, which I can't wrap my head around because it's their job to do employee paperwork. But it seems to still be about extracting 40 hours and then overtime from any vaguely professional position. One manager told me that they are limited in headcount for their department.