It feels like your argument is a bit of a strawman itself. I'm hard-pressed to come up with a situation where the code is broken but readable, and the quickest

It feels like your argument is a bit of a strawman itself. I'm hard-pressed to come up with a situation where the code is broken but readable, and the quickest way to fix it is to make it less so. Sure, there are times when I don't know or don't have the time to come up with the best structured solution, but have to put something out there that just works. I would argue that's where you should strive to make it even more readable, because the uncertainty means the odds of having to revisit it later are even greater.