Ask HN: Are non-compete agreements a good thing?

I am heavily of the opinion that they are a blight on society. My father started a market research company years ago, and business was booming. Then there was a divorce and a crazy new ex girlfriend and an unmaintainable house and he had to have his company absorbed by an international conglomerate, who has since absorbed all of his salary and the crooks have stored it all offshore. They do no work. They work him to the bone. They misguide him. I'm sure there's evidence of tax evasion too. He cannot leave because of a non-compete agreement. Market Research is all he knows other than Military Strategy. If he left, he'd be 60, unemployed, and have less than $50,000 to his name.