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The have to do that in order to offer a machine that has a low price with their 40+% margin.

Apple only does value-based pricing. They'd charge you a percentage of your income if they could figure out how.

A lot of Mac users get the computer and never plug anything to it besides a phone or some USB sticks. If all you want is a computer you can read your e-mail on, 8 GB is fine. Memory, AFAIK, is upgradable post-purchase in all current models.

It isn't on all models unless you pay Apple to do so.

It was until the previous 27" model, at least:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201191

The 21.5", however, is a different story.

Also, the three standard configurations (i.e., the ones you'll be able to walk into an Apple store and pick up, rather than ordering a different configuration online) max out at a 512 GB SSD. It's just bizarrely small.