It is peculiar to me how people view what a company does (accepting mutually consensual payments in return for valuable life-improving products and services) as

It is peculiar to me how people view what a company does (accepting mutually consensual payments in return for valuable life-improving products and services) as 'exploitative', while taxes, which are in economic terms what's called rent seeking, happen to be some universal good. It seems you've managed to get things completely reversed.