There’s one other issue. And that’s inflation.
Hard assets retain their value much better than cash in times of high inflation. There’s every indication that inflation has been much higher over the last several years than the government is reporting. The falling dollar is one indication of that.
Whether I have $1000 in my pocket and $1000 in debt toward a "hard asset" or I own the hard asset outright and have no cash is irrelevent. In fact, the inflation argument works against paying off a mortgage early, since future year dollars are worth less than current year dollars.
I assume you missed the point in my post where I said that doesn't mean it is right for everyone. I was simply trying to say that at times, it makes sense to carry some debt as part of an overall strategy. If not, no one would invest for retirement, college, or anything else until they had their mortgage paid off.