YouTube before vs. after massive corporate, profit-driven enshittification

You made some good points and I agree, that YouTube has to make money. It is a business after all. Still some decisions make it shittier than it was before for consumers and creators (imo at least):

I am not a content creator myself, but the current algorithms and model seem to make it hard for new creators to get any attention and monetize their content.

On the other hand, I feel the UX for consumers gets worse, especially since it is harder to find new, widely unknown content. But I don't know if it is better for subscribers, since I never subscribed.

Still I hope any competitor arises, may it be peer tube or some other platform. But you are probably right, without a big investment that is not going to happen soon.