I think that there is no way to tell between legit privacy-conscious folk and bad actors. I am also pissed about it, but from a server's perspective there is no difference between us and malicious users.

I don't think the creators themselves can receive money privately either. This also is a privacy risk, and a broader risk of doxing or extortion if they make "undesired" content.

But there is no way to receive money anonymously that it isn't "technically money laundering". That's my 2 cents.

$20 bill through a local family run mercantile

That's why cash in the mail is still an option (with some VPNs for example). No wonder the EU is cracking down on cash payments above a certain limit.

virtual card. That card protects my identity from the vendor, but NOT from the company that issued me the card. They know who i am IRL, real name, real addr, etc.

They do require a ton of sensitive data to issue these cards. I don't know if they are themselves to be trusted. Probably members of the same surveillance network with banks, so this is perhaps more of a placebo effect. The men in black will still know what you do with your money.

Same goes with crypto. So there is no point really. The invasion of our privacy is not a matter of individual consumption choices, but a systemic issue. No matter my privacy beliefs, I choose to do a number of things normally, because doing otherwise can come off as very malicious to banks and other institutions.