Academia has been underpaid in all respects for a long time - whether it is adjunct instructors, TAs, or otherwise. It's an industry much like acting, where only a small % can make a decent living, as superstars. The trouble is, our society is cleaving into two halves: superstars and everyone else. The superstars are using slave labor (AI) more and more, over decently paid labor, minimum wage labor, and indentured servants. Slave labor has a long history in the US--much of our economy was built on it.