I saw what was written. I stated when/how it wouldn't work (and, in fairness, if the pulley and pump were seized then squealing and burning rubber would be an obvious sign). I already pointed out the ease and low cost of a belt replacement myself, there wasn't a contention about it. Electric is more expensive but I never contested that point either.

I get what you're saying but I hadn't taken a position on it. I just had a problem with what you presented as absolutes. If I were to appeal to experience myself; I developed a steering fluid leak while in Bumfuck, Nowhere. With no fluid to keep replenishing it, and before I could make it back to civilization, the reservoir had emptied and I'd lost all power steering. It's just what happens when air is allowed to compromise a hydraulic system.

Now, do I think drive by wire has the potential to be abused by threat actors, the alphabet soup groups, lil Billy's Flipper 9001, and so on? Sure, so long as RF plays a role or can potentially be added into the system. Do I think there's an end goal to turn vehicle "ownership" into something more like an unserviceable and indeterminate rental agreement? Absolutely, same as everything else being reduced to a service. But did those questions have anything to do with my gripe? Nope. Without stalking through the rest of your replies, I'd imagine we're mostly on the same page.

As a quick edit, are you just saying "You can still steer without power steering?" Like "steering still works without the 'power' part?" It just dawned on me that was possibly what you saying, and that's certainly true. I can opine about how godfuckingawful it is at low speeds on rough "roads," but it's true you can still steer and get an upper body workout at the same time.