Isn't that like arguing that we shouldn't have markets at all? The primary function of a market is price discovery. If we could all agree on the value of things, today and in the future, things would be a lot simpler.
If shares were only traded based on what other people trade it for, isn't that the blind leading the blind, and the price it is traded for will have little grounding in reality.
I have several issues with HFT, however 'spoofing' as it is described sounds like it should be perfectly legal to me. If a player wants to trick the market, it is an irregularity that should be capitalised on by someone with a better understanding of the true value of the security
What does that even mean divorced from supply and demand? A share is worth precisely what someone will pay for it. You may think it will be worth more or less later, but right now that is what it is worth. That is the price discovery.
I think there is an argument for allowing spoofing, in that it is very hard to enforce.
But be clear, spoofing is bad for ALL market participants, not just HFT because it makes the supply/demand calculation more imprecise. This lack of precision leads to less fine grained pricing (in the form of a widened bid/ask spread) which hurts long term investors more than anyone.