I think you are in denial if you don't believe that flakes and pellets are the most used food in the saltwater hobby. But, I could be off.
So, because folks use what's put in front of them, we just put our efforts into keeping up the status quo?
No.
You're right that we can't stop newbs from setting up horrible tanks and adopting inadequate practices – it's a free country and look at the education system.
But once those newbs show up asking questions and all we can offer them is the same shakey QT + meds advice that dates from at least the 1950's...and which also takes a degree of expertise to implement that beginners will be lacking...it's a disservice to say the least.
In light of the information (that I've personally run across) that's been available in books since at least the 1930's it's really, really sad. Really sad.
QT + meds – for all the goods and bads – accounts for a tiny fraction of the story that's going on. That's just a fact.
Even in 1952 they knew this out loud even though (back then) they didn't have the benefit of being able to have all the answers in books like we do. (See "The Salt-Water Aquarium In the Home" by Straughan, p.130, where he also feels the need to point out that there are no magic potions for the hobby. )
Plus, QT and meds can both potentially ruin a good immune system. (covered earlier in the thread)
This means that there is the distinct potential for either QT, the meds, or both to do harm – making sick fish where there were healthy ones. (It seems like there is a certain degree of denial over this as it rarely if ever comes up.)
Using nothing but QT + meds to keep fish healthy is like trying to build a house using nothing but a First Aid Kit. Please count how many disease threads where QT and/or meds get discussed but there is no mention of stress factors or nutrition. It's not pretty.
There's a lot we could and should be doing differently.
Change is never popular I guess...Machiavelli found out.