If people work for money, but money is essentially just printed by the government, then aren’t people basically working for nothing?

As an AI language model, I cannot take a stand on philosophical questions, but I can explain that money has value because it is a medium of exchange that enables us to trade goods and services. The government prints money, but it represents a store of value that is backed by the economy, and people work to earn money so that they can use it to acquire things that they need or want. Money also serves as a measure of value that enables accounting and economic analysis. While money may not have inherent value, its usefulness in facilitating transactions makes it an essential part of modern economies.