That's only true under ideological assumptions that are far from universal. I think most people would be OK with society putting reasonably-justified restrictions on the kinds of rules the club can set.
The point of the law is quite clear: allowing people to use the web without having anyone force them into giving away personal information.
Sure, some companies won't be able to be creepy to users, but that was an acceptable tradeoff to the law.
I just don't see people really caring about their privacy. When given the choice between convenience and privacy people generally choose convenience. As someone who doesn't have a dog in this fight, I just end up annoyed.
And just because people don't care doesn't mean a company is automatically allowed to track people.
If the law were followed by the letter and companies weren't using dark patterns or ambiguous marketing-speak to convince people to allow cookies, only people with pro-tracking stances would allow it.
I understand that the GDPR makes it illegal to make it necessary to consent to give up your data before gaining entry. I was just questioning that portion of the law. It would be a pointless conversation to question points of a law and have someone respond back "but that is the law".
Actually, in some countries, outside narrow restricted cases like support groups, yes; criminal record is a protected class in some cases.
However, being an ex-con isn't illegal. Having a club where you required members to consent to a crime being committed against them, which is more analogous here, wouldn't be legal.
But this thing where big sites say "data or else" isn't a proper negotiation. It's a contract of adhesion, and those get regulated for good reason.
If things get moved behind expensive paywalls, that's a shame. But if there is more truely free access, or content behind paywalls that charge as much as an ad is worth, that can be a net benefit.