You're right that it isn't universal. Just like any compromise or "selling out" of principles in the name of short term gains, though, I think the empathy should only go so far. Pity those people but don't desire to be them or think it's okay that they compromise on principles.

"Take as your life's objective the goal of getting money for doing your own thing. You were born to do this. Never lose sight of this and settle for second best because this is one compromise that will guarantee unhappiness. Leave that kind of compromise to others - they were born for it. You are not." -- Mark Tarver

You've never been unemployed for a long period of time, have you? Unemployment makes you realize how few principles really are important. At the end of the day, I'll value being able to eat over some abstract sense of morality. But if you have been unemployed for a long period of time and kept to your principles, more power to you.

I have been unemployed for some period of time--- six months. After which I decided that the best course of action was to become self-employed.

I can completely understand why someone would hand over their passwords to a prospective employer when asked. There is a huge power differential as you point out. However it is no less stupid.

Here's a basic rule I try to keep in mind, and I think it is extremely important in a hard job market as well, and that is to keep options open and work on ensuring you aren't on the bad end of such a bad exchange. The way you do this is by doing what odd jobs you can to put food on the table, so that even if you need the job you don't need it so badly to take a shit deal.

Not everyone is capable of being self-employed. A lot of people are willing to work hard, but need the structure of being told when and where to show up, and what to do.

The fundamental nature of any transaction is that when one party is in a tough position (the formal term is having a poor "best alternative to a negotiated agreement") that person is going to get screwed over. When your BATNA is to have your kids go hungry, most decent parents will gladly give up their own dinners, let alone their Facebook password.

Everyone can do at least odd jobs to reduce the impact of being unemployed. The general point is that you want to maximize your strength so you can negotiate from the strongest position you can....

Did you just try and justify stealing bread from a shop is okay if you're hungry enough? I guess that's why some barbaric places still chop off your hand if they catch you since "abstract sense of morality" isn't enough deterrent. But anyway, while I haven't personally been unemployed long enough to be tempted into wage-slavery, I've known a few people who have been unemployed for at least a year who didn't compromise. (How long is "long period" for you?) They waited for a better opportunity even if it meant they grew a little thinner for a time.

Unemployment is bad for your health, even if you have enough to eat.

Quality of life surveys in Germany, where the government-provided social net is rather tightly knitted compared to American standards, shows unemployed to have about as much joy as cancer patients.