> People want to be managed!
I would interpret that somewhat differently, I'd take the offer, for example.
A long time ago as a high school student I stacked bags of sidewalk salt on pallets. The only thing keeping me out of toilet plunging, manual labor, and being yelled at by customers over the phone is my job title / position so eliminating them has very little appeal to me. If I was at the bottom of the hierarchy, sure, elimination of the hierarchy sounds great; but in the middle/top of a technical hierarchy... elimination doesn't sound so great.
I also expect to live a couple more years, and I have children relying on me to put food on the table, pay for schooling and health care, etc. Plus lets face it, I have no great desire to live under a freeway overpass myself. How do I explain at my next job interview that two jobs ago I was more or less a software dev but my most recent job title was ninja, but I'm just as good as the other 9 out of 10 applicants you have who were software devs in their most recent job. Sure you were, sure you were (insert sound of resume hitting trash can)
Another interesting interpretation is its like joining a cult. Self depreciation of myself and my career combined with permanently removing myself from the greater employable economy... So they're passing around the kool aide, smells kinda like almonds, eh, I think I'll pass, this is finally one step too far.