I’m not a mindless consumer (aka sheeple) for making a decision someone else doesn’t approve of.

The alternatives to YouTube Premium are

• Ads: won’t happen

• Ad-Block: won’t work (anymore)

• no YouTube: there are no great free or cheaper alternatives

It’s a service / product I value at a certain amount. That sounds like a bad thing?

That’s the point. You cost them money, because streaming is really expensive and skipping or blocking ads doesn’t make money.

The moment I was presented with an ad-blocker notification by YouTube, I subscribed to Premium. I won’t watch ads. If it gets too expensive I’ll quit.