Many of us spend our lives thinking of science and philosophy. Looking for answers to the meaning of life the universe and our place in it. And then eventually we die. Have we not accomplished anything? Does our knowledge somehow live on beyond death? What is the point of seeking knowledge?
My question isn't knowledge, I get that.
Why do we spend 40 years working for someone else's dream? That's what I don't get.
Oh, because capitalism wouldn't work if we didn't force it.
Have you considered your alternatives? If you spend any time studying what the life of a subsistence farmers is like, you realize how incredibly attractive that job working for someone else where you earn a steady paycheck is. Your other alternative is entrepreneurship. That too is a very hard path, but for entirely different reasons. 90% of small businesses fail and at the end you may be penniless.
So your choices are:
That last one looks very attractive for most people.
We work for pennies until we die so the CEO ca buy another private jet.