There was a time when there were Feudal Lords and now there aren't.
Similarly, we're moving away from a time of microserfs to hackers and coders who are free.
Love the downvotes - Guess people would rather take advice on how to be mediocre and miserable and do things you don't want to do than take control of their own destiny and find a company they love being at or start one themselves.
No, we really aren't. Yes, it's easy to be independent if you have a marketable skillset, and it's a great time to launch a startup. That said, the vast majority of programmers are still employed by big organizations where these rules are very much in effect. They aren't directed at people who are working on their own; they're directed at the majority who are working in a corporate climate.
Also for many people there are a lot of factors that go into picking a career, location, amount of time spent with family, benefits etc. That limits options for a large number of people.
So while it's nice to "control your own destiny" it's also important to consider that to some people destiny is more than a career path, and that being mediocre doesn't mean being miserable. There are tons of people that are perfectly happy being mediocre.