I am very sympathetic to your point about barriers. I feel like California has been waging war on 1099 contractors and small businesses for decades. Hell, they have a $600 minimum business tax on unprofitable businesses. They want stable W-2 union workers with state regulated compensation, not free wheeling contractors and businesses succeeding or failing on their own merits.

However, I think it is worth clarifying your following point.

>if Meta is paying you $750k/year that really means that you are worth twice that, if not more.

This is far from slavery. You are worth that to Meta. You might be worth significantly less without Meta. If you can make 1.5 mil/year alone and quit, meta wont send the slave patrol to bring you back in shackles. Instead, it is the golden shackles of greed that keep people making $750,000 instead of opting out.