As does calling an argument reductive before reducing it to 'it is bad.'

I did that intentionally to show how ridiculous reductive logic is.

worthless things

It's obviously not worthless to the people who buy it, otherwise they wouldn't buy it. Value is almost entirely subjective, and frequently based on what others think.

That's the same for MTX. People often buy MTX to show off, and that has value to them. It's the digital equivalent of wearing designer jeans or carrying a designer wallet.

manipulation used to gouge people

You've just described the entire field of advertising.

And there are good parts to MTX as well, it's the free market solution to "take from the rich and give to the poor" since it makes games available for free and largely funded by wealthier people. A handful of people feeling superior to others funds development of a game available for free to everyone else.

I still don't like it because I think the end product is worse than charging everyone for admission, but there's an solid argument there that the net effect for the majority is more games available for free (most people don't buy MTX).