PeeWee, I have a 30mm lens I use to get about a 50mm crop through my viewfinder, actually a 45mm crop with the 1.5 Nikon sensor.  I have a 50mm that gives me a 75mm crop view.

But, you are correct.   The 50mm is not giving me the magnification of a 75mm..the view is still the same size, that is, a person in the 50mm will be the same size as  person in a 50mm on a 35mm camera..but the width and height of the frame will be smaller for the digital, larger for the 35mm.  I have not gained a thing in focal length, only gotten a smaller image overall to the eye.

The 30mm looks  close to the same frame size to the eye as a 50mm on 35mm but the objects in the view are smaller, as this is really a 30mm lens and I get the 30mm size of things in the view, not more.

I agree.  And, I agree this subject gets quite confusing and the more we directly compare 35 and less than full frame digital the more confusing it can become..it is sort of an apples or oranges sort of comparison.