Intelligent, driven, competitive 9 - 5 lawyers and business owners (who research paper towels) are buying puppies from kennels with many breedings every year by parents with baby titles, incomplete health testing, 30+ adult dogs in residence, oh and you can't say I want a puppy from A x B. Maybe A will be bred to C or D or maybe X will be bred to B -you can't specify . Obviously, there are enough buyers who feel this is responsible and ethical.
That dog is a weekend warrior. The vast majority of buyers are local competitors with 9 - 5 jobs, not World Team members. My CH sire of merit Ag/Rally/OB competitor is a pet 90% of the time. When I'm in the market, I won't know what is responsible breeding for my purposes.
I'm totally going to be that person. As are a ton of people I know. Most of the agility competitors I know (even some of the 'professionals' who train other people) are 9 to 5'ers. I'm more of a 7 to 3er, but I work 40+ hours a week, am not a professional, and have zero desire to go to Worlds.
But it is entirely possible that my next dog will be a sport-bred border collie. I'm not sure what's wrong with that. The vast majority of sport bred BCs I know are perfectly lovely, and well-loved, pets when they aren't working. I hike nearly every week with two young 'sporter' collies. I'd be thrilled to have a dog like them. I also train with them nearly every week. And I'd be thrilled to have a dog like them in that respect as well.
I'd have a hard time with a first time, or small, breeder using parents who are relatively young and have only low-level titles. But there's also a point for me where, if a breeder is consistently putting out dogs who can go to professionals and hit the World Team, and can also place the right dogs with amateurs who love those dogs and are able to be successful at their own level with them...well, I'm not going to knock them. It may or may not be a breeder I would personally go to, because that would be dependent on other factors. But perhaps. The dogs are going into the right homes, they are living nice lives, and the owners are thrilled. There's bigger fish I'd fry first.
Not that I'm trying to disagree with you really, because of course everyone has a different idea as to what is okay and that's fine. Just my take on it, as someone you essentially described in your post (although I couldn't care less where my paper towels come from, as long as they aren't those annoying ones that are half-sized).