90% of wannabe routers are just playing a PvP MMO where they steal from each other while pretending they're all helping Bitcoin together.

On a long enough timeline, unfit nodes either give up or become profitable/useful.

The best routers are also merchant/service nodes and routing profit is just byproduct of having a large active node that people want to pay (for goods and services).

This is how it ought to be! Nodes specialized in routing alone are just trying to be middlemen/rent seekers.