except that unmined, unreleased Bitcoin doesn't "already exist" in any meaningful way. you could say it's priced in, sure. but how would that not also apply to Monero's tail emission?

Because the terminal supply of monero is infinity. So the value would be 0

I understand why inflation is bad and how it affects purchasing power. What I am saying is all inflation is not equal. The Fed printing money to devalue your savings is not the same as a protocol that allows a small amount of inflation to pay miners to secure the network which benefits the entire network. Amount of inflation and what that inflation pays for matters. And if that inflation is agreed on and known it is not the same as unknown amounts and unknown periods with no benefit to the network overall (ppl using USD). So my point is it’s not all the same thing. Like a sip of wine is not the same as drinking a barrel of wine.

Sure if your whole argument is its better than fiat. Yes My argument is more why would people choose it when it makes them poorer than the alternative.