I think it's not as simple as saying, "If you don't like the non-compete, don't sign it."

That's an option if you're looking for a position where there's little competition for the job, and the companies offering the position are plentiful.

However, that's often not the reality. When looking for work in your field, if a job opening comes up which is otherwise good, and it comes with a non-compete, you're often signing it now and worrying about the consequences later. And that fucks these employees.

The fundamental question should come down to whether non-competes are fair or not.

In some cases they are fair. My window washing example was a good example. In other cases, they're overly restrictive. If you're an air conditioning tech, and a company makes you sign a non-compete for a 50 mile radius, you're basically stuck working for them unless you want to either move or do an insane commute.