You already can. It’s called Google Workspace and comes with support.
Also, I think it's unreasonable to accept "support just sucks now" as a norm - consumer protections exist to shield us from BS like this and the US has been far too lax in flexing those muscles lately.
IMO we need USPS email addresses for the same reason we have mailboxes. The ability to be contacted digitally is just table stakes nowadays.
Right, that's why I think there should be an option for a $500 permanent email address, or maybe $50 one-time payment that doesn't guarantee permanent access but does guarantee that the email address will sit there as long as it takes for you to be able to pay to restore your account, without being deleted or reassigned.
You could also purchase a domain and point MX records anywhere, preferably at some known-good mail service which you pay for.
Basing someone’s entire online identity on a free account has always been pretty sketchy. We just haven’t come up with a better plan for most people yet.
This already exists.
It's why if you have a certain bank balance, when you call the bank a human in your own country picks up and speaks to you in your native tongue immediately. And if you don't have a certain bank balance, you sit on hold for 90 minutes and are repeatedly told how important your call is.
Google does not interoperate and effectively has a monopoly on web search, web video (YouTube) and is one of the two evils owning the mobile market (the other being Apple). There is no way for a competitor to emerge because it just wouldn't be able to interoperate with any of these services.
Because if so, it’s cheap insurance at $20/year.
Another short term option: $500-1000 right now to get a couple hours of support to unlock an account.