I keep writing and editing and then deleting a response to this. I can't deal with it all in one post, but a few short things before I get to sleep.

Arguing for legalized wages below a sustainable living wage level is politically suicidal.

There are already plenty of legal functions in place for subminimum wage in the volunteer and semi-professional sector, and if someone can't abide by the regulations on that, they probably ought not claim any status as employers.

There is no law against giving little Tommy down the street $20 to spend an afternoon mowing your lawn. There are laws against hiring teenagers to quit school, work for subminimum wage while their parents collect welfare, and the kids, lacking skills, are unlikely to escape the cycle of poverty. Or in some people's idea of a perfect world, the kids work for minimum wage or below, the parents go in debt to the company town, and then the kids just graduate into virtual slavery. When the family dies off due to blacklung, the recruiters go off to Europe and falsely advertise about the good life and convince people to get on the ships and immigrate...