Sounds to me like you're in a good opportunity to start your own start up. I might be being a bit presumptuous here but it seems like you have undemanding job but one that pays the bills none the less, this is a perfect time to begin working on your own business as long as there aren't any contractual difficulties.
You seem to have missed one very valid option, the middle road, you don't have to trade free time now for free time later, there is in my opinion a happy middle ground to be had (like most thing life, politics being the primary one).
Sure you could argue that you get more free time later if you give up free time now but then you enter into the difficulty of quantifying the quality of the free time. When you are young, active and healthy you might be able to enjoy your free time more or perhaps having more money later in life allows you to do things you enjoy more, either way I feel balance is the key.
Oh now my recent state makes sense. I very recently had an endoscopy after vomiting blood, turned out my stomach lining that had become so inflamed it had slightly torn and had started to bleed. I couldn't really think what it could be, I don't really drink, my diet is good, I exercise daily and I don't get much in the way of negative stress. The only change recently in my life was taking up helping a friend code their app, again not exactly stressful but it did consume the rest of my free time I had outside of work, seems like even a slow burn out can cause health issues.
Why is this even a story? I've had the same thing happen to multiple times coming into the UK. I'm also white and British if that makes any difference.
How is that true? What about all the various gadgets that exist that nobody wanted until they were advertised to them?
If you don't know about something then how can it possibly be exactly what you want? You wouldn't want it if you didn't know it existed. Or how about brands like Coca-Cola, everyone knows they exist but they keep advertising, surely it's to make you want it!
Similar story, grew up in a rural part of England in the mid 90s. Simple rules, be back before dark or call if you're not. Summer holidays were the best as it wouldn't get dark until 10pm
Then why do corporations spend billions of dollars each year on advertising? Surely it's to convince you to buy something that may not be exactly what you want.
A corporation's main goal is to drive up profits and if it's more convenient for them to manipulate a populace into acting a certain way than it is to give the populace exactly what they want then that's what they'll do.
There is probably not a conspiracy from corporations or government to undermine people's freedom and what not but it doesn't mean that it isn't the end result.