I wonder is it something specific to the USA or in other countries people are obseessing over nit having them in the lawn?
I'm in France and every though WE are far from having wild urban meadow or meadow at all, I've never heard of people and HOA complaining about dandelion before learning nolawn mouvement on the internet.
I love your line of thinking. Lawns don't feed the ecosystem, flowers do! But here in the US dandelions and clover are not a critical part of their diet. Native plants are the critical part of their diet - e.g. Native maple trees that bloom first!
They are far from the worst weeds, i wouldn't go eradicating them like you should invasive plants (I leave both in my lawn anyways). But if we are looking to support our bees and ecosystem, then we should be re wilding our yard and growing native plants
Definitely a thing in the US. People spend lots of money to have chemicals poured onto their lawns every year, summer and winter, to keep the weeds away. All of those chemicals have to go somewhere. Probably the groundwater and streams and other bodies of water. Not good.
I know people who mowed down carefully their lawn and spray them with presticide but they never had a issue with having dandelions, daisies and other common grass flowers, they are usually considered part of the lawn.
It's a weird culture a lot of emphasis on freedom and protecting your home but then you just "ok then" when the local busy body comes around.
It's your land get them told