Capability trap. Not everyone is capable of effectively working 2 jobs at once, and generally speaking no matter how big that $big_salary is you aren't going to have more money or time.
Also there are lots of way for a company to say they are doing interesting/meaningful things or whatever and effectively not be. And no matter how great the work you may be doing, you don't want to be doing it if it doesn't pay enough.
Lets not reduce this article to "complaining", it didn't just say "modern software development sucks" and be done with it. The author gave an overview on what she thinks is wrong about the field, with a fairly detailed example and references. Even if you disagree with her take, these kinds of articles force us to reflect on the state of the industry. There is nothing wrong with that.
Should we be mindlessly churning away taking no issue with the state we're in?
I mean, if you can’t, or don’t want to change your situation, it’s an effective outlet. There’s also more than enough people feeling the same to commiserate, so you’ll never be alone.
Also there are lots of way for a company to say they are doing interesting/meaningful things or whatever and effectively not be. And no matter how great the work you may be doing, you don't want to be doing it if it doesn't pay enough.