I don't mind any of these approaches. Personally I'd want a single difficulty that is made challenging but with specific accessibility options. Like disable quick time events, loose lock on, and other things to make the interface more bearable if you have a physical or mental disability.

While I don't care if a game has an easy mode, a lot of the "easy mode is accessibility" arguments feel similar to the "AI art is accessibility" arguments. Unless you can't properly interface with the game, having low skill is not a disability or something needing accessibility support. If you practice you'll get better at it.

The "but I don't have much time" argument feels especially weird, like would you demand a cliff notes version of a book or TV show because you don't have the time otherwise? If you just want the story just find a playthrough online.

If a game has an easy mode, great, it appeals to a wider audience. If it doesn't, great, it's catering to a specific audience. A game's not worse for having an easy mode and a game's not inaccessible for asking you to practice its mechanics.

Tangential, but I really dislike the industries trend toward super forgiving difficulty settings

Like the new Halo you can change basically any setting you want to make, to "customise" your difficulty

Contra?

Itagaki's comment here reminds me of Malmsteen's "more is more"

Itagaki was a pretty big bastard if I remember right, or was that someone else I’m thinking of.