"a polygon mesh can be generated non-destructively" - yes, as a copy of the volume. Any further editing on the volume needs to be rebaked into a new mesh. Not out of the question for an editor, but could get lengthy for really complex solids.
"you can do insets" - Do you mean subtractive volumes? Sure, easy. Blender can use volumes as subtractive modifiers.
"you can do edge loop cuts" - no, I don't see how you can make edge loop cuts nondestructive. You can frequently undo them, but only because the vertex deltas have been saved. That's a different thing.