You can at least make local backups of your Steam games. If a game is removed such that you can't even download it anymore, you can always just install it manually.

Steam has DRM,so no. Easily cracked yes, but then you can just go the full pirate route.

The point is that with Steam you have more options than with consoles.

Not completely true, many games on Steam in fact do not have any DRM. See https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48755132.

Optional DRM, but essentially on by default. Could maybe consider it malicious compliance as its so easy to bypass but still allows them to check the DRM checkbox.

That's what GOG offers. And I'd advise anyone to use GOG over Steam for their principles alone. Every game you purchase through their platform is DRM free and they go to a lot of effort to preserve retro titles that would be difficult to play nowadays without a lot of tinkering. They also put no limitation on how many family members you can share your games with.

If steam ever goes up in smoke, there will be infinite justification to never trust download only ever again.

GoG deliberately comes without DRM, so that's still good.