Bicycle culture shares one thing with religion. Many people want others to believe the same as they do. This to affirm their belief.
The truth of the matter is that you can get a very good aluminum frame bike for much less investment than a very good carbon fiber frame. Of course for most of us this is a hobby. Not that I don't consider quality important and/or the relationship between hardware quality and enjoyment of the hobby. But at this point in time I personally would rather have a good solid 105+ aluminum frame bike than a low end carbon fiber. I would say the same with respect to electronic shifting, v-brake vs disk or hardtail vs. full suspension mountain bikes.
Just babbling now but I have mentioned this before but last year when I re-started riding after 25 years I took my 15 year old Trek out of the garage and went for a ride with a friend that did two things, the first was he handed me my butt on the trail, the other was he kind of made me want a bike with better components. A year later we go for another ride this time I hand him his butt and mentioned to him that my bike, the way it is configured is fine with me. It's 90% the rider not the bike.
Simple point of fact, I have the means to buy just about any production bike out there but for now my riding skills have not quite caught up with the bikes I already own.