Who are we to define the independence of others? Is it not subjective. What is the point of citing, criticizing, or telling them about work/life balance?
Are we not adults? Do we not know tradeoffs? Our life is a sum of our experiences. We all pick a journey for ourselves. It cannot be the same for each one of us.
An adult will toil hard, work 19-20 hours, and ask no questions because of money. Someone with eagerness to learn, prove self. They will not care for a day, night or weekend but continue to learn, deliver and get better.
At the same time, someone born with wealth will consider it slavery. Or someone has figured out early on about the work-life balance.
Are all of them correct or incorrect? I don’t know. But in short, each has defined its freedom for themselves.