The problem is that you're coming at this from 2 different ends of the spectrum. These privacy browsers disable a bunch of functionality, because that functionality, whether intentional or not (let's be realistic, 90% of it is intentional) can be used to track you across the web. Naturally, this disabling of functionality also breaks websites.

The solution is to find a browser somewhere in the middle. I'll get a bunch of shit here surely, but this is why I use and recommend Brave. There is a Shields dropdown where you can easily toggle a bunch of privacy features on and off on a per-site basis. Set the global default to private, then you can turn things off as necessary to get the page working (if it's not a malicious page from Meta or Google, etc.).

My recommendations would be: use normal Firefox if that works for you, install uBlock Origin, enable Strict Tracking Protection in the settings, disable all the telemetry, enable the “AI kill switch” if you do not want any AI (including on-device translations) in your browser.

This sounds like a settings problem, especially since Firefox works. If I had to guess, you have scripts blocked. The modern web is made of JavaScript. You may have to let that one go. That's the only setting I've personally experienced that breaks things besides Tor connections or VPN which can technically be built into a browser.

and not break websites?

That's the hard part! IME the more private you try to make FF, the more sites will break. Well not just FF prob any browser, but I noticed it with FF when changing about:config stuff to ressist fingerprinters and improve other privacy. BTW, Edge works since Edge is Chromium with some MS shit slathered on.

There's a bunch you can tweak in about:config. Like blocking battery charge queries. turning off various telemetry from Moz. Resist fingerprinting. Cross site referrers. WebRTC. Disable Google Safebrowsing! More private search engine. But the more you change, the more sites will break. In the end, FF with all privacy tweaks, is essentially equal to Librewolf. So if you have probs with LW, prob same with FF.

I have complained to a local utility co that their site breaks in FF. Called them up. They basically told me they get so few FF users they don't care and they told me to install Chrome. Everyone is on one of 2 phone browers, or a few on desktop Chrome.

Which is the prob with losing too much market share. It's a downward spiral of irrelevancy. But we need ppl using non-Chrome browsers, or G will fuck the web even more than it already is.

There is a whole ass other topic about Identity Resolution on the web and how more and more sites will block you if the identity resolver they use can't peg your meatspace ID.

You kind of can't. Web sites are inherently invasive, and mostly as a side effect of AI scraping making site operators throw up more barriers, it's gotten harder to extract just the text. In the past you could browse with something like lynx but now that almost never works.

If you're really determined you could get a burner phone and run something like a scraper yourself, to extract the article content and send it to you.