I had a long rambling reply to this that in retrospect I think missed the forest for the trees. Put simply, most jobs are worked out of necessity because we don't live in a post scarcity society. It's a very privileged position to have a real choice between interesting jobs that aren't just two terrible competing options.

Removing labor options by force weakens the position of low skill workers because it limits how many interests are competing for their attention (labor demand). There is nothing inherently disrespectful about independent contractor work, it's simply another option in a wider pool of choices. What is disrespectful is suggesting that these people are just to dim to see that they're being exploited rather than acknowledging that perhaps the reason they don't care about the benefits of regular work is because a job that fits into their current life situation is more valuable than the other options they looked at.

The medium is probably just coincidence, but I found the "what do you want to be when you grow up" onesie an excellent meta-comment on class mobility:

https://www.teepublic.com/onesie/328209-what-do-you-want-to-...

If it’s out of necessity, it’s often because it’s their second job to some other job that _actually has a schedule_ but doesn’t schedule them full time to avoid giving them the typical benefits of full time workers. Or at least that’s what I’m hearing from business owners and part time workers... right?

I tend to think a work-as-you-want service like Uber or Lyft that pay above minimum wage couldn’t be more fitting to a self-employed / contractor description.

I don't see the ‘respect’ and ‘dignity’ in being prohibited from taking work because it is aesthetically displeasing to the 1%.