The current labor laws force somebody else's view of what is "full-time" employment on everybody. The ideal of "everybody is free to enter into contracts" does

The current labor laws force somebody else's view of what is "full-time" employment on everybody. The ideal of "everybody is free to enter into contracts" doesn't result in crushing employees to dust. It results in businesses that treat their employees poorly going out of business. Competition is required for a healthy economy. In many markets the US has legislated to protect the incumbent businesses at the request of lobbyists. Such legislation allows businesses to treat their employees like shit because starting a competitor is costly and cumbersome due to regulations. We can have a free and open market and legislation to protect individuals from abuse by employers. Setting a required number of hours to work to qualify as "full-time" and a minimum wage are dictating what an individual is allowed to negotiate for themselves. A high number of work hours or extremely low pay are not abusing individuals if they agreed to work for a company knowing full well what they got in return. Allow people to make their own choices, whether you agree with them or not, and you will be surprised by the result.