You know what, I'm dropping out of the OP_RETURN debate. I've read good and bad arguments on both sides. I chose a side and argued for it, running my mouth off about things I literally only learned a few days ago like your average internet expert. I think I've learned enough to know now I'm at the bottom of the Dunning-Kruger trough now. I'm cooked.
But I can't leave it at just that, I have to give you my current opinion. I don't think this matters that much. The monetary use of Bitcoin will outcompete anything else because money is the best use case.
After reading the SN thread nostr:nprofile1qqsf2ds69dp2ympzhtpmdd46f3w2cnfkjphtpnaesf5xs8z95vqu2xqpr4mhxue69uhkummnw3ezucnfw33k76twv4ezuum0vd5kzmp0a6dhfp linked me (below) it seems that this is mostly about keeping the protocol running smoothly. Node runners want to be gatekeepers to the mempool, but they really can't. There's always going to be a way around any individual node's mempool policy if the transaction is valid according to consensus rules. Creating friction around that is probably not healthy for the network.
I don't want to invite spam, but we've already weathered an extended period of it and Bitcoin is stronger than ever. If this invites another wave of ordinals style bullshit so be it. If it stops other bullshit like embedding data in complex multi sig fake pubkey schemes that might actually be worth the trade off.
Alright, that's it. I need to go touch grass.