To be clear, “having the right to do whatever they want” does not equal “they’re not dickbags for doing it.”
Musk randomly decided to rebrand and stole a username he liked from someone because he’s an asshole playing at feudal lord. Sure, there’s no legal repercussions because it is his website. Doesn’t mean he’s not a fucking douche for doing it.
We already know what happens when regulations are eased. People die, profits soar, workers are abused. It isn’t some philosophical theory, it’s what happens. It’s what has always happened throughout history.
That’s why there are regulations in the first place. Because horrible things kept happening to people and we collectively decided that it would be better if that didn’t continue. Shitty things happened and as a result, regulations were put into place. That’s what happened and that’s the reality we live in. To suggest otherwise is to live in a fantasy land.
So you’re just going to ignore reality in favor of what you think “should” be happening.
If someone like you was in charge, we’d swiftly find ourselves living in company towns and working 18 hour days on assembly lines, only to be swiftly culled the instant some form of automation made us redundant.
You say you’re aware that there will always be people to take advantage of a situation where there is absolutely no protections for the consumer, but you are woefully ignorant of the scale to which advantage would be taken.