All the comments are about the publication or the author as of the time I wrote this comment. Nothing about the article itself. Ok. I’ll bite:

Are there industries or regions where the style of labor depicted in stardew valley is rewarded? Have there ever been?

I don’t mean that people are literally collecting magical fruit. But I mean a place where a small farm can yield a good life for the typical small farmer, and where such labor is respected? I spoke recently with a cousin about his travels around the world. I asked him what country was his favorite, and he told me that rural Uruguay was, because people live a modest but healthy and happy lifestyle off the land. I thought that was a really interesting observation, since I suspect that type of lifestyle is quite rare in the first world.