> If the developer lives 10 minutes from work while the barista commutes for 1 hour, the developer has more time to spend on productive activities. The world is then better off.

You got that completely backwards. A developer can be productive during the commute. Given modern offices with their distractions, an hour commute each way can give a developer much needed time for design and analysis. The barista, on the other hand, does nothing productive while commuting.