What if all the average men who can't get a date despite no obvious massive flaw are just victims of being trapped in a closed off social circle which offers them 0 social proof and no dating opportunities?

Maybe the reason they can't get a date is because they don't have any people in their corner who hype them up and know women to set them up with. In the past, men didn't stay in the house so much, they had tighter friendships and closer relationships with their family, and these people would know other people and eventually they would at least introduce them to a girl they knew and would hype the guy up beforehand to make the girl like him better.

If you don't have anyone in your corner to hype you up to women they know, to be your wingman/wingwoman, you're basically stuck in a horrible situation where your only dating prospects are OLD, bars/clubs and work/hobby groups and try to make something happen your own, with no support and no social proof, which results in disastrous odds if you're just average and not super handsome or super rich.

So maybe a better strategy instead of looksmaxxing/moneymaxxing would be to discard your friends who don't know any women or won't introduce you to any and become friends with outgoing people with lots of friends that can OR become an artist and start growing your own fandom to get your social proof from them.