My case doesn't prove that millions of people aren't being given a raw deal. It just indicates that gig work doesn't have to be a raw deal and it is possible to design systems that work well.
I've tried to promote that idea in the past. It didn't really catch on. Most people basically agree with you and feel that I'm some bizarro statistical outlier and not really an example of how to do this well and what we should be aiming for.
As long as the people creating startups generally agree with you, we will continue to see more gig work that craps all over the workers. I don't think it has to be that way. I don't think it should be that way. I see enormous potential for gig work to make the world a better place.
But the world is probably not going to stop being a shitty place full of shitty people just because I'm capable of envisioning something better sprouting from the muck. Most likely, such visions will continue to be crushed under the boot of those in power and continue to go nowhere fast.
Same as it ever was.
Edit2: Also I do not mean to say that the gig-econ does not offer economical sustenance or reinsertion for workers that cannot endure more classical jobs but they're the great minority in these kind of jobs but that is just my own opinion and read on the market
I've seen data that suggests that up to 60 percent of people are at least moderately handicapped. Most downplay it and don't want to wear the label "handicapped" or "disabled."
Such people benefit enormously from having more control over their lives, such as when, where and how much they work. This is one of the things rich people tend to have more of than poor people and I think it has substantial impacts on health, productivity and quality of life.
But it's like 4:30 am where I am and I hope to sleep soon, so I don't care to drone on at great length about this topic, though I no doubt could.