ETH went from sub $10 to over $50, after the hardfork, and people got free ETC on top of that. Currently at $2 or a little less.
So pricewise, the hardfork was the best thing that ever happened to ETH. In fact if BTC splits into BTC and BTU, then that BTC may be worth $5000 and BTU maybe $200, a year from now.
Mind you, a hardfork means you get the same number of coins in both forks, so no matter which sides wins you are fine.
you are missing a very big point.
that point being the main purpose or usage of ethereum. and that is nothing other than being traded and give you profit. literary nothing else.
answer me these:
do you use ETH as a currency? do you even know anyone who does?
do you use it for smart contracts and do you even know any proper one out there that is being used?
is there even any real business out there that uses or considers using ETH for any real purpose?
funny isn't it? bitcoin is being traded and for many it is only for profit and making more money but on top of that it is actually being used as a currency. there are businesses small (like a food truck) or huge like Valve corp. as a means for payment. or thousands of transactions daily that are for buying or paying for something online every day.
none of these would like a split because they are not using it as an investment to stupidly want their holdings double.
and also you are foolishly forgetting another big factor. and that is the way ethereum whales
controlled the price. go look for their topics, when ETH price was getting dumped real hard there were huge buy walls placed on poloniex and smaller ones in other exchanges that you can not even fathom the number of USD in the buy orders they threw at ethereum to keep the price up and prevent the crash.
go watch the orderbook next time Ethereum is being dumped lower than whales care for it to be dumped and you realize how much money they hold.