Installing Debian on modern hardware

"Software freedom" only applies when you have hardware capable [1] of running said software.

How is it somehow more liberating to users to require them to throw out their hardware? Isn't it better to provide ways for them to make the most of what they already own?

Look, I strongly agree with copyleft principles, and use GPL (v3!) whenever I have a choice in the matter.

But.

Every peripheral in or attached to this system I'm using to write this (and everything else in my home) has some from of processor running non-free software in it, from the keyboard to the displays, and everything in between. Do I like this? Of course not. All other (semi-)viable options are similarly afflicted. This leaves me with two basic choices:(a) accept that there will be some level of non-free software running that won't be excise-able without building my own hardware, or (b), completely opt out of modern society in the name of ideological purity.

Personally, I chose (a). And, time permitting, I do what I can to modestly add to the Free Software corpus.

Why is it okay to recommend using a cellular modem (itself a giant pile of proprietary software, written by companies actively hostile towards Free Software) to install Debian, but not a wifi adapter whose manufacturer contributes to Free Software, solely because the embedded software it runs is stored on the host instead of an EEPROM? What difference does it make, ethically or morally, if some of those proprietary blobs are transported by the host processor?

Is proprietary software morally acceptable if it's "hidden" behind some sort of physical interface? (not unlike a brown paper bag covering a bottle of liquor) Why is it okay if that interface is an embedded module, but not okay if that interface is smartphone-shaped?

[1] Legally as well as technically. Frankly, the biggest ongoing threats to Free Software are, and IMO have always been, the former.