Exactly. We'd all be better off if more people worked for free working as medics, nurses and doctors, saving lives, but nobody seriously expects them to do any of that work with zero compensation. But somehow it's okay for programmers to build the tech the entire world depends on and get nothing in return, and programmers defend it!

In a Star Trek utopia, that idealism would be great, but we live in a world where people are exploited wherever possible to ensure endless profit.