the irony is that the CEO probably does less work than the assembly line worker
Just that it's not always the job some people think it is.
You can chat and converse idly, or with an agenda. Not demeaning at all, just descriptive.
Demeaning isn't the right word, but it sure seems condescending. Like calling programming "button pushing".
Only one of the two killed the company.
I think that the world's, or at least the US's, teachers are a glaring counterexample.
Part of his thesis is that society undervalues the labor of caring workers, because they get so much "job satisfaction". Teachers and nurses are examples of caring work.
I lean towards Graeber's thesis, mostly because I haven't read any other explanation for this pathology, so Graeber wins by default.
parents paying for private schools seem to be willing to pay that for their children
Exactly—people aren't willing to pay for someone else's education, but everyone needs an education, so teachers who care enough that they are willing to teach for minuscule pay wind up squeezed between societal apathy and societal need.
A few dumb (or malicious) decisions by an assembly worker can cause enormous damage and incur enormous cost.
You'd think that losing key staff would kill the company overnight, but even in this situation, it took 4 years between being doomed and actually dying.