Customers need chargers. They could either go to Apple and pay for the most expensive ones, or turn to competitors. For users, chargers tend to be very substitutable, regardless of the technology inside them; a charger is a charger. This is particularly so in Europe since the phone industry was compelled to adopt one type of charger, reducing the need to supply one on purchase of the phone and making the market of chargers more competitive. The result is that consumers may choose to go for either supplier, because the market is competitive and thus lower prices emerge. In other words, it is fairly common to buy chargers from other companies than Apple. Since Apple is always at the higher end, it is by no means a stretch to presume that Apple charges in excess, it happens with other Apple products too (especially the earphones). But that does not say that competitors' chargers are not as good, security regulations and guidelines will apply industry-wide especially in Europe, it simply means that Apple can as usual set its own prices without having to enter direct competition, because there will be demand for Apple-branded products regardless. And it is not even true that Apple's chargers are without problems, plenty of cases can be found on the web too.
But the customers that lose out are the ones who are not willing to pay for Apple's prices and turn to competitors instead, which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. The problem that now emerges is that there could be potential security risks with some chargers if they do not come from Apple. And that is where my grudge with this program lies. Apple is effectively saying to those customers: don't buy the cheap stuff from our competitors, it could be dangerous. And for that they provide a trade-in program to compel customers to pay for an Apple charger after all. Of course it is optional, but the stigmatisation will most likely convince some people to make use of the program just to be sure. With this Apple is providing a haphazard solution to a problem they created in the first place. If the chargers were competitively priced, customers would find no need to buy cheaper alternatives.
You know what, I'm not even going to try to reason with that garbage. Basically, you just spent two long paragraphs using the same convoluted and unsupported "logic" as the last time, and it makes no more sense now than it did before.
If you think it's "perfectly reasonable" to buy a lower priced option in order to save a few bucks on your $700 phone, and don't think Apple's chargers give value for the money, go buy the cheaper ones. And spend your time wondering every time you plug it in, or pick up your phone while it's charging whether or not you will end up as a story on Macrumors about yet another person who died because they were looking to save $10.
But don't put your economic decisions at Apple's feet. This is not "a problem that Apple started." If you really have such a problem with the pricing of their accessories you are free to buy into another ecosystem. This is a problem started by cheap, shortsighted consumers, and opportunistic, predatory scumbags who are perfectly willing to take advantage of the situation.