In ancient Hellas, Greeks viewed labour and work in a very different way than we do.
During the ancient days, if you were working for yourself then you were a free man, up for your own advancement and betterment; however, if you were working for others that was always seen as servitude, you were a slave – a dependant.
Maybe this mindset is not that faulty. Nowadays, we are grinding our lives away to make others rich and we do not better society or build civilisation. Often it seems meaningless, whether you do that work in the greater perspective or not. Thus, it might be a good thought to once again focus on doing labour for ourselves, to build, to prosper and reach the optimum on our own.
I am not trying to say, of course, that every work done for others is therefore slavery, because there can be honourable servitude in the name of something higher and for our own advancement as humanity. However, evaluation is required if we want to raise above the current grind.
For better or worse.