Plus AI is actually happy to answer your random questions, with an immediate response. Stack overflow will quickly become obsolete as AI gets better

Everything you listed are common sponsorships. I have never bought a YT sponsorship, so there’s no argument there. But affiliate links are more than just those sponsored posts. Amazon is a commonly used affiliate program. For example, someone might link to the tools they use and like. I watched a carpenter who linked to the tools he used, and it was also an affiliate program. He wasn’t paid by anyone to link them like a sponsorship, he was just sharing in his experience what tools he likes best. If I trust his judgement in tools, and want to buy the same ones, assuming camelcamelcamel shows it a good price and checking around doesn’t find it cheaper, why wouldn’t I want them to get a cut of that purchase?

There aren’t creators you like and think they deserve some of the cut? If there isn’t an increase in price, then that just means less of the money is going to the business, and some of it is going to a creator you enjoy.