These solutions to an old "problem" are lighter, simpler and easier to maintain in the long run.
If you're curious, I'll be pleased to give you more concrete examples!
As someone who just wants to hack together a responsive blog that looks nice, the things that are now “simpler and easier in the long run” have not been easy or obvious to come by when looking for resources, and while I’d love a deep knowledge of CSS, the investment in time doesn’t make sense given my use case. This is why I gravitated to Tailwind - learn the conventions of the utility classes (only took a few minutes) and the rest mostly just works.
I’d love something like http://vanilla-js.com/ but for modern CSS. Something that paints a crystal clear picture about what can be done, and how to do it without bringing in $framework.
And, because you are absolutely right, I'm working right now on something like what you propose.
The only way to convince people that CSS is a better (as in lighter, simpler, more efficient, etc.) solution than a framework like this, is to show and prove that it is. Arguments can only go so far...
So, as the saying goes, I'll be putting my money where my mouth is. Hehe.
Awesome of you to start a project like this.
If you are ok with sharing an email address or a website, I'll be sure to give you a heads up when the site is up and running.
Thank you for the kind and useful offer!