> "We need redistribution, retraining, a real social safety net, healthcare, etc. so that people actually have better options than exploitative employment situations. Then it isn't even necessary to ban them, because no one would want them anyway."
What we (aka The Market) needs is choices. We willingly got ourselves into this. We bought into the idea that cheaper (and disposable) is best - a la Walmart - and then rotted our communities from the inside out. The local mom & pops replaced by a browser and a UPS truck.
So while Widget X was/is less expensive we're still at the end of the year out of pocket for just as much, if not more, in order to yield all the intangibles the more expensive widget supported.
Yes the solution legislation? It might be. The question is will that help to solve the root problem, or simply create another gov program that creates long term dependency, instead of working towards an enabled citizenship; a society where better individual decisions matter.
It seems to me we've bought into the idea the price is the only thing that matters, and then we wonder why we're treated as human resources.