Current web stack is very complicated, HTML and CSS DOM is a rats nest and that's a superficial example. Adding asynchronous rpc pushes that way over the top. Luckily HTTP has been through the production crucible for 30 years. What I see is not a cost center but a reflection of basic truth:

- UI and data representation is hard.

- Developers use the tools they know about.

But about micro-libraries, the first point isn't very important because this is a social problem. There is no standard library for NPM that does what people need. There should be a curated function library of this crap.

In my imaginary vision there are several, and people would look askance when you don't use one without an obvious reason. I very much sympathize with the desire to burn-it-all, but I like that I can use LetsEncrypt and am cognizant that there is a lot of thought and raw technological progress bound up in all this.