Because, again, it is about managing risk.

Pickpockets and muggers are a thing. Depending on how worried you are, you might consider only carrying just enough cash for the day but… good luck functioning on holiday in a foreign land without your phone. So you take precautions. You avoid the giant masses of tourists but you also avoid the super dark alleys. And you always keep a hand on your valuables.

Same thing here. There are plenty of activities where just having a layer of VPN is a great protection (all those linux ISOs, for example…). But I am also aware that were I to do anything where being identified is a serious risk to my safety? I am using alternative methods. And so forth.

So when someone says

NEVER trust a VPN.

And you reply

The only exception to this is IMO ones that (I like)

You are actively giving bad advice and leading to the kind of shit this thread is about. People who didn’t do basic research who thought they were safe and… hopefully are just at a bit higher risk of getting a letter in the mail from the MPAA.