For the cost of my ticket, I expect my bag to get there when I do, no further changes required.

No. That was the previous deal, the deal has been altered. You now have to pay an extra fee to ensure the bag gets to its destination, otherwise you roll the dice.

This doesn’t mean I condone the industry habits.

You enabled industry habits. Its the same reason why tipping in restaurants still exists, because people pay it. If the majority of people decided not to, then the culture of tipping would die out.

technically subverted airport policy to specifically retrieve my bag. I appreciated him going out of his way, and possibly even carrying some risk for my benefit,

This is enabling. Nothing has fundamentally changed with the current system, and there has been no feedback to the industry. So it will remain as it is.