At most that’s the first or second “Why?” but there is surely a deeper issue.
I have no doubt there exists someone who was ruined by 2008, but most prudent blue chip investors were not.
Participants will willingly acknowledge that the behavior is destructive or reckless. But they do so in a way that glorifies it. "Woah, I totally blacked out again last night. So crazy. High Five". When the most self-destructive member receives the most attention that acts as a pretty powerful incentive.
Humans are social animals. And the way most of us avoid bad decisions day-to-day is to look at our peer group and think "would this be something that a normal, respectable person would do". When you create a subculture filled with self-destructive people, it normalizes and encourages self-destructive behavior, even when people rationally know they shouldn't be engaging in it.
And if you think that these firms weren't already feeding every single post and comment on reddit into their HFT algorithms, you better at least believe that after this whole thing, they're gonna be doing that, and adding some extra weight to `if subreddit === "wallstreetbets"`.
From that point of view, WSB is rather icky; its people who know what they're doing (most of the time) subtly and anonymously impersonating an idiot to influence the actual idiots.