With some. You insisted, so let's get into the details.

1. Caring about the company when you are a worker and not owner?

Yes and no. I don't care about the company. I do care about what I do. It's a self-respect matter. I do good work not because I'm a slave to company, but because of self respect. My deal is simple: "I'll do my best to produce the best artifact and push the company further as long as it doesn't conflict with my personal principles, you'll buy that time for that amount of money".

I have a simple, foundational rule: I'll sleep sound at night, and this rule is rooted in my ethics. So, I don't shortchange anyone, incl. my employer. If terms change between us, we will discuss, but this probability is not a reason to do shitty work (or optimize for money, or which sugarcoated absurdity others name this).

2. Companies will throw away/layoff people with no notice?

Yes, this is bad. This is life. It's not nice, fair or acceptable, but without unionization, you can't act against this. So, you either try to change this or you just accept it. Realities of work life is not a predicament to shortchange your employer again.

This is as absurd as saying "I'll die anyway, why do all these things? I can just die on-demand".

Meaningless...

3. Work slowage (work-to-rule) as a counter to low/no pay raises in accordance to general inflation

We can accept that, but you all shall really unionize. It's not scary. Try organizing. It's a force multiplier.

4. Invest emotional and physical labor in ventures you gain completely out of

Everybody should have hobbies either productive or unproductive. I can't find the question.

It’s not black and white.

There are companies where you can spend years doing as you describe. More and more, though, you’re competing with people who care even though they don’t own, put in the same effort YoY, and invest in their job. Companies love these employees.

So I guess it really depends on your values and what you want out of life. If you enjoy hobbies and time outside of work, sure find a job where you can coast. Don’t get frustrated when you get laid off just find another place to work. Etc.

Plenty of people want to grow within the industry and build a career, though. And many have what we call basic self-respect and care about how they are perceived.