You don't need to be a legal expert to just not collect data you don't need.
It is also more expensive to implement than
if(blocklist.contains(ip)) res.sendStatus(451)The "technical resources" involved in identifying EU traffic is nearly always just a simple IP block list, where one can often just checkmark a list of countries in their web host's portal.
I think you grossly overestimate the technical prowess required to operate a website these days, and I think many grossly overestimate the actual real-world impact of GDPR outside the EU borders.
The reason why such "technical prowess" is needed is because businesses have made it more complicated than it needs to be. Keep in mind, the context of this conversation is the arrogance of literally claiming claiming you are being "censored" (because that's what the 451 response code indicates), just because you refuse to remove tracking analytics from your website.
The dude trying to sell custom T-Shirts has a website because it's a necessity to sell T-Shirts, not because he enjoys operating, optimizing and customizing websites. He just wants to sell more T-Shirts, and some European Union law isn't going to give him pause even for a second if he is physically not in a EU country.
While good intentioned, the GDPR was specifically designed to be a "viral" law and force the entire internet to comply... unfortunately the EU's long arm of the law is fairly short. Further, the EU's ability to enforce the GDPR is limited to businesses physically under it's jurisdiction - ie. the US is not going to extradite some website operator for an alleged GDPR violation, no matter how severe the case may be, and the EU can only fine a business into compliance if the business cares about EU laws (which would imply a physical presence in the EU).
Ignoring the GDPR is the right move for most websites.
If people desire comprehensive, impactful privacy guarantees, then a similar law needs to be passed within the US.
The reality is, however, unless you have a major presence in the EU, or are the size of Google or Facebook... you can freely ignore the GDPR without consequence. EU laws do not apply across the ocean.