[krapp]

People forget that enjoyment/happiness is a nice bonus to have in a job if you're lucky, but it isn't at all necessary. You're hired to create value for your employer, whether you enjoy it or not, and you're free to take it or leave.

Now programmers get to be like 99% of people and just work for the paycheck.

[muldvarp]

I don't get this argument because a paycheck isn't necessary for the system to "work" either. Serfdom and slavery "worked" for hundreds of years.

[krapp]

We don't live under serfdom or slavery, we live under capitalism. Under capitalism, in the world in which most people live, paychecks are necessary because the labor class has to pay rent on their survival, but only so long as humans are necessary to create value. No part of that requires the humans to enjoy what they're doing any more than draft animals are required to enjoy plowing or pulling loads.