What POSSIBLE reason other than "We won't hire you because it will be too much of a raise for a peasant like you" could a company have for wanting your CURRENT salary?

Your argument is "It's always been this way" and isn't really an argument. Things change. We have automation enough that farmers can feed millions more people with millions fewer workers. Why should those workers now go do other stuff "just because"? That is work for work's sake, not because it's needed.

We are quickly arriving at a time where food, energy, and many necessities could be provided by automated workers and there are no need for human workers AT ALL. Should we find more work for these people and force them to do something because we oppose "free rides" or should we clothe, feed, and house them and allow them to work on whatever makes them and their communities happy and fulfilled?

I would say that an environment where everyone can experiment without the fear of failure (homelessness, starvation, etc) will lead to huge leaps in innovation and quality of life for our species.