everybody gets knocked down. Sometimes it means you are playing the wrong game, sometimes it just means you need to learn more. For example, I have completely quit trading options, but I have been doing well with stocks. Options really just aren't for me, so I quit, and my account balance thanks me.
Bear markets thin the herd and make sure that the average worker stays an average worker. If everybody could just trade options and futures for a living the economy would become totally unstable and collapse. Bubbles are really short periods of time when the average worker can make money on balance. If it goes on long enough, those average workers will start quitting their day jobs and trading full time. Eventually things revert to the mean and those traders get wiped out. That can either be a disaster or a learning experience, depending on how long you live afterwards and your personal psychology.