I agree it's a false dilemma. I like supporting alternatives by citing examples in low-margin industries. Publix keeps coming to mind as they've been giving employees paychecks + stock bonuses since the beginning:

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/

Founding family got rich, too. Costco always did good pay and benefits with what HN would call a subscription model. Plenty companies referenced here have a subscription model.