The “gig economy” has created a class of workers who must perform relentless, smiling subservience to customers and algorithms alike. One bad review, one three-star rating, and the rent is gone.

The world will always ask you to bend. Sometimes, bending is wise. But to live on your knees—to internalize the lie that you are lesser—is to pay a price no one should have to pay.

Co-dependency is the clinical term for emotional subservience—where one partner’s identity, mood, and choices are wholly subordinate to the other’s. It is often mistaken for loyalty.