The failings of that place were not unique. It was the conviction of young people (general men) who believe their intellect is capable of figuring out the world because they lack the perspective to really understand its complexity. I was basically that kind of young man too, just quieter about it.
With hindsight the hubris of this is obvious and, even at the time, their unwillingness to believe people that said they really had fun playing “the wrong sorts of games,” was a bad sign. Nevertheless, they did a lot to open up new directions of RPG design and we have no idea when or how it would have happened without them because you don’t get to A-B test history. And there are a good dozen or so games designed back then or just afterward that have been unfairly forgotten, IMO.
I really think the only reason these ideas still come up so much is people rejecting them. There are a few die hard adherents still out there, and I think they had a few good points even with hindsight, but I see a lot more talk from people rejecting the ideas than supporting them.
The best game is the game you like to play the way you like to play it. The rest is trying to work out for yourself what that means to you.