> ...it's the modern version of dealing with the devil.
Hey, I get that bureaucracy sucks. It is an inevitable function of increased size. Have you had experience at any of the big companies you name, though? I don't mean to be challenging, but my view of them was more negative before I joined one; all of my meaningful work experience prior had been with very small employers, so I assumed big corporate life was like a Dilbert strip.
Finding what motivates you is a difficult and intensely personal process, so it shouldn't be approached as a universal truth. For me, I've found that I really enjoy programming for its own sake. Although I will always treasure the memories and experience I got working at a startup, I am also very satisfied working in a larger setting; I still get to do what I care about most in a work setting, which is to design software and write code.
Taking a job that gives me the opportunity to do what I love while also allowing time to pursue my passions outside of work is a perfectly reasonable way to live my life - hardly "dealing with the devil". I asked earlier, "who am I to tell you how to live your life?", but the inverse applies as well.