Even if your parent comment presented false dichotomy, you responding with the other extreme isn't convincing.

As a senior programmer I respect business priorities and I don't go fixing technical debt for months.

That being said, we the people suck at moderation. See, the problem I faced was exactly the opposite of what you encountered: I've been too accommodating and allowed myself to be micro-managed to the point of a manager telling me how should I do my job; that's when it finally clicked with me on what a toxic workplace have I landed back then.

So neither of both extremes is good. I agree business priorities have to be respected; absolutely. At the same time we shouldn't allow the businessmen to tell us we can't ever fix technical debt.