This is funny, I think we agree on most things, with a few exceptions, obviously...
I almost always have a soft spot for an underdog, be it in the sporting arena or in the market place; the only caveat being that they aren't a douche of a company. I want them to do well. And them doing well, is good for us, the consumers. That said, I'd only recommend throwing money at them if they met your needs e.g if pure gaming was what you were after I'd always recommend the Core series over Bulldozer.
Not arguing the point about capitalism, I know how that works but AMD's not being able to compete was a direct result of Intel's (illegal) tactics. The profits they made by extorting us with their predatory pricing and blatant slow/low performance increases doesn't sit well with me. i understand why they did it and I think a lot of companies would do the same. I will, at every opportunity, do my best to not give them any of my money. I own an Intel system. If I were wealthy enough, I would only buy products from ethical and principled companies. Not so easy to do, if you don't have the finances to back you up...
Simpy put, Intel needs to feel our dissatisfaction with its greed.
I certainly would't be advocating a Ryzen build if it wasn't stable. Yes, there were bugs in the beginning, those, now, for the most part, have been ironed out. Ryzen is stable; and for you to suggest otherwise is disingenuous, just like, if I may say, your convoluted first post. Recommending a 580, then a 1070 to pair with a 1440/144 panel. Telling him to "forget about' the peripherals!! I mean, really? I think you saw his 200k budget and got a bit over-excited, thinking that he's got cash to burn. Did you even ask him what he wanted to use it for or what he currently had? You did't even mention Ryzen but now you're saying what I'm saying, that is Ryzen is a far better option for everything except gaming and even then, it's right there nipping at the heels of an i7...
You know why the i5s are the most commonly used chips? Intel used illegal tactics to push AMD out of the market! If they hadn't, a 4c/8t CPU would be the most common processor and game/app developers would've been developing for those extra cores. We are behind because of Intel. We have been cheated out of our money by Intel. Now that AMD has the better product for the vast majority of use cases, why wouldn't anyone recommend Ryzen?
^
This is what you should have said in your first post, though I am a firm believer in the old adage, 'better late than never'.