That's an artificially induced cost, though. You are correct that I'm going to have to letsencrypt my blog if I want to people to be able to read it (I might just take it down). But I don't think the people are correct who are saying that a) there's any good inherent reason for me to do that and b) this will cost me no time or effort. I've done the LE thing before and, at least in my case, it's not a zero-effort thing.

Yes, you can host your own server and use your home internet connection. This is the whole issue really - the web was designed as a decentralized, anarchistic, read/write thing, and it's subsequently become a thing where it's increasingly difficult to participate unless you're doing so on a professional basis or relying on somebody else's professional services. Maybe this is just how it has to be, but for people who can remember a couple of decades back it's pretty depressing.

(btw I've used LE both in my day jobs and for some personal stuff, and I very much appreciate its existence).