"So if you're already here to make money, why not make the most of it? That's what I don't understand. How are people having trouble making this connection?"
You will go crazy trying to answer this question.
It's like everyone here is autistic about game theory.
Or maybe they are thinking that if you you can starve a lion long enough, it'll start eating grass. I also notice that these people who are "Autistic" about game theory tend to be communist leaning.