In order to start appreciating why an 2,000$ AR is generally superior for some, you have to be well educated and practiced on that platform. You have to do some serious shooting and maintenance with it.
It's not the right choice for most because they don't know why it is better. So it's not. Nobody buying a JP has any doubt if it is worth the money, because they have an understanding of what differentiates it from an BCM or M&P.
Assembling is where the fun is, imo.
When you start running these a lot and learn how they work, you can then pick each part, down to the pins! I love it. Perfect for a nerd control freak.
I think you and Tarowah hit on something pretty key...you have to not only know >why< its better, but know that it actually matters to you. I know absolutely nothing about cars, engines, or anything under the hood. So when someone starts talking about how their new ride has a 500xl supercharger with a rebounding agstermeter with 4 florocarbin rank meter booster...its all just mumbo jumbo to me...I hit the pedal on the right and I go, I hit the one on the left and I stop...so an extra $500 for a special superboosting carborating magic gasket does nothing at all for me. I know a guy who spends more on his hot rod than I have spent on my home in the past few years. None of the updates he has done make much sense to me...it make it go faster...or something.
So when it comes to ARs, most all of us really want/expect is that when we pull the trigger it makes a bang and the shooty thing goes where we want it. So, for someone who doesn't understand whats going on, spending an extra $2k to make the shooty thing go somewhere more better doesn't really make sense to me. I totally understand that some things are, in fact, superior...no doubt in my mind...but the extent to which that superiority influences my shooting is minor if not completely wasted on me.
Now, in time (and as I am experiencing) I am learning more about the platform, what I expect from it, and what I want it to do. So I have slightly upgraded my "Anderson is just as good" attitude to "Anderson is fine, but PSA would be better, and AERO even better than that..."