Regarding AA having too many elites, yes they do, but so do other airlines currently. It's a legacy of Covid-related grace periods and lower qualification thresholds that are working their way out of the system. When AA set those levels they guessed how quickly travel would ramp up and they clearly underestimated. That has shown up not just in the FF program but in other parts of the operation. There should (hopefully) be fewer EXPs after February.
I'm having one of my best years ever with upgrades (see my signature). EXP with ~140 LPs, but I usually book not long before the upgrade window opens and when possible I choose flights that appear to have good chances (lots of unassigned F and orange seats). Sometimes I pick a connection vs a nonstop but nothing that really inconveniences me. I understand that not everyone has this flexibility but the point is that if upgrades are your top priority there are things you can do to tip the scales in your favor.
I have no problem with AA letting non and infrequent flyers qualify for status. By definition they will rarely compete with me for upgrades and CS time.