I have never had any virus despite not running antivirus, occasional visits to the seedy underbelly of the web, and often having ad block disabled or not even installed. Nor do I remember anyone I know being infected without being tricked into installing something.

When was the last time a browser vulnerability was actively exploited at any significant scale?

So I can't shake the feeling this is really more of a post-hoc rationalisation for people not entirely comfortable to screw over creators in the rather selfish pursuit of personal comfort.