[softball]

Probably the latter....
But I didn't. So, I have to deal with the current situation. Those scams have run dry as they were destined to. Those who are still around have to deal with the wreckage. It will eventually settle down, but a lot of customers have been burned along the way and lost confidence.
Those scams and those who run them were fundamentally dressed up drug dealers, a business I (heard) an awful lot about long time ago, and far far away in the days when "icing the puck" was hugely profitable. It was just as easy to make money selling drugs and even that became harder (or so I heard) as the novelty wore off.
But those who made the money and then fucked off were not necessarily very sage or stupid. Just lucky.
So when I hear these "old school" guys preaching like internet Gods, I kinda laugh. Its easy to clip and paste wise Samuel Johnson quotes, but financial opinions or worldly outlooks from these guys is like listening to drug dealers preach economics around a bottle of the latest expensive wine they read about, more to the point, really expensive mediocre Vodka like Grey Goose.
So, I guess my point is, that perhaps the time has come to stop welcoming them and the boardwhores who represent them and at least cut down on some of the damage they are still doing. On a practical level, that shit costs us money, so any little thing we can do to slow its progress is money in our pockets down the road.