The law is written such that the opt-out has to be a free choice. Demanding payment is not a free choice. In fact having the opt-out behind a maze of weird toggles when opt-in isn't, is not a free choice either.
The EU has decided that people should have a right to opt-out of having their privacy violated. Whether or not you think that's a good idea it DOES explain why things like "pay to opt-out" aren't going to fly.
No. People used to be able to trade their freedom for shelter and food as well. Are you saying that practice should've continued as well? Privacy is a human right and it cannot be exchanged for goods and services.
You’re just describing a job, and I really, honestly don’t see how getting shown targeted ads is such a privacy violation. Meta doesn’t sell the data, nobody looks at that data on an individual level, it’s just used to show you the most relevant advertisements