My job is tied to manufacturing and no sector of the economy monetizes human life as much. Modern manufacturing has no conscience. I've heard production people referred to as "bodies" regularly. I've seen $12/hr personnel walk to get to work and get screamed at. One girl road a scooter and showed up in snow so she could keep her job.
A coworker bragged about never missing and would come in every 4 hours over an entire weekend to keep something working. After he died of a massive heart attack the company posted his obituary and job opening side by side on the bulletin board. They didn't send flowers to the funeral and they certainly didn't do anything for the 9 year old daughter he left behind. I'll never put a job ahead of the health or safety of myself or family and advise others to do the same.
You're not far off man. The progresses we've made due to the Industrial Revolution have come at a human cost, literally and metaphorically.
You see people today going on about moving into Tiny Houses, or getting away and moving out of the city. More and more people seem to be rejecting the lifestyle they've been sold on. People want to work remotely in jobs that can function that way, specifically because they'd like to live somewhere that allows them a modicum of a real life.
Look, we all have to suck it up and pay the bills, regardless of our life philosophy.
But it wasn't that long ago that people lived in small towns and rural areas predominately. Only 2 or 3 generations. We are still adapting and evolving to the ramifications of these changes. And on stuff like, for example snow days, when heaven forbid people want to stay safe, stay home and look after their family, etc instead of being castigated for not sucking it up and hauling *** into the coal mine, 99.9% of people just don't ******* care about the work not getting done that day because there are more important things in life, and they show up whether or not them getting their next paycheck is predicated upon their attendance that day.
Yes, society has gotten softer but some of that is also an entirely predictable pushback against this insanely unfulfilling work at all cost mentality. There's a balance. I don't advocate some lazy *** welfare state at any level. You want the good things in life, you work for them.