chain of death and suffering

Thats a shitty imperialist view of the natural world. Yeah, it's red in tooth and claw, but also cuddly and collaborative and incomprehensible. We are not morally superior by virtue of wearing pants.

subsistence

I know he once had me set up a dozen beefy computers with solidworks in an office. I don't think he was a subsistence farmer. I think he was like a subcontractor for lockheed or raytheon or something. Definitely had 'my job requires both security clearance and an advanced degree' vibes. It's a thing. They talk about the topic generally, like going on (hypothetical example) an impromptu hour long explanation of different backflow valves, but never talks about the one's they've worked on.

you can suck less

Yeah maybe, but the difference in exploitation here is negligable. Splitting hairs, getting out my microscope to figure out which is more exploitative does not seem worth my time or attention. Besides; I'm not trying to be a good person here.