Even as another lowly peon I absolutely disagree with this. My boss/manager is absolutely there for my benefit. As much as I'm there "to do some labor that (he) can't/won't do" he's there to do work that I can't/won't do, primarily to be my "human shield", but also doing all the legwork needed to make sure that interesting jobs (and thus money) keep flowing my way. If I didn't see any benefit in working for a manager, I'd be working for myself.
You are working for the company. Your managers job is to make you as productive as possible (one of their jobs is shielding you from distractions). Their job is not to provide you with interesting jobs unless that is in the companies interest. If you don't want to do the work the company wants you to do you of course have the right to leave.
As a manager, I would say it IS my job to get my directs involved in interesting projects. If I dont, theyre apt to look for something interesting elsewhere and finding talented developers to replace them is expensive for the company.
This is in the companies interest then to provide interesting jobs. The interesting jobs are a means to the end which in this case is keeping your developers since turnover is expensive. The skill in management is balancing everything.
Even as another lowly peon I absolutely disagree with this. My boss/manager is absolutely there for my benefit. As much as I'm there "to do some labor that (he) can't/won't do" he's there to do work that I can't/won't do, primarily to be my "human shield", but also doing all the legwork needed to make sure that interesting jobs (and thus money) keep flowing my way. If I didn't see any benefit in working for a manager, I'd be working for myself.