They also all happened before crypto. But no one spoke about the evils of fiat currency then.

What do I, a regular Joe not interested in buying illegal things, gain from using bitcoin? What's the proposition? Where's the value?

The US government has an absurd amount of debt but neither major party cares and both have plans to explode it even further. As the global reserve currency the US has the ability to debase the value of it far more than any other country before serious pain occurs. But if you want a hedge against runaway inflation, plus the chance bitcoin replaces or at least eats some of the market share of gold, making bitcoin a small percentage of your retirement portfolio makes sense. It may wind up being an outsized portion of your wealth when you retire.