Fees and proof of work are undeniable, I just the feeling that the stance core is taking with respect to spam if a bit too weak, see my other comment on the same post for more details
Discussion
IMO
Core are - filter spam with mining maximalists
It’s imperfect, like anything, but it’s probably the best way to go instead of constantly coming up with Captchas etc.
I really don’t have much to add as I’m not that savvy but I no longer worry about this debate any more