In general, I like the OP's first paragraph, but the second paragraph is off in the weeds. Yes, our gear (especially depending on our income level & the cost of gear) should be taken care of, but not babied to the point of defeating its purpose in supporting whatever work we want to do. Yes, people always have and always will purchase and acquire items designed for one purpose, but use them for something else, or not use them at all.


The basic issue with "those people should buy point & shoots!" is that: Cameras are not a limited resource!! If there were only 2500 5DIIs produced per year, and half were sold to chuckleheads like me who can only used them on the weekend, then there would be a problem. But DSLRs are EVERYWHERE. Dovetailing with Daniel's point, it's the volume from the supposed riff-raff that keeps prices down for everybody. Plus, who knows--somebody who buys a DSLR on a whim might end up falling in love with photography. It would be a shame to keep that from happening.