It's far from a false dichotomy. Non-violent drug offenses are the modern day equivalent of vagrancy laws and private enterprise making use of prison labor the equivalent of the chain gang.

Just because China is unquestionably more authoritarian doesn't mean that we don't have similar arrangements in America.

Sure, but someone who's principled enough to not do business in China is likely principled enough to not do business with private prisons / other cheap labor schemes.

That's why your response sets up a false dichotomy; it pre-supposes that anyone not using China for cheap labor is necessarily looking for cheap labor somewhere else.

How does one make use of prison labor? Asking for a friend...