You would still die, just after being humiliated and while clutching a penny. It would be a bad decision to do anything for a penny when you were making nothing, and the person who got you do do it would be a bad person. So, as a society, we choose an amount (not a factor of previous earnings) that is minimally acceptable to us, and if that wage is too high to be profitable for anyone, we prefer (and I prefer) that we just help and not profit. That's a social safety net.

Basically you've already conceded that, we're just discussing the amount (to paraphrase something else). I feel it's already been adequately set by law.