Everything you've said is anecdotal at best and nonsensical at worst.
So what if Scalzi is currently tied to the publishing industry? If he could find a way to make more money from e-books, do you think he'd simply refuse it?
"Make more money is not a simple concept to even define, much less implement. One could honestly believe that more money could be made in the long run by self publishing, but if that involves an immediate drop in income sufficient to make one homeless, then it's a bad idea. And that's a changer - from traditional publishing to self publishing - that's very like any other change in profession. He'd go from being one of the most successful writers in the genre market - very few fiction writers make more than $100k/year - to being a complete neophyte, until he learned the ropes. In a profession new enough that there really isn't an established model to learn from yet. He's conservative in his approach, and with a family to feed, that's not surprising. Whether or not he's correct, only the future can tell.
As the content creator, he stands to make the most benefit from any attempts of cutting out middle men.
That depends on what services the middle man provides. Those who have made it big self publishing, at least those who have commented on how they did so, universally say they spend at least as much time marketing as they do writing, and generally rather more. Most jump at the change to sign a contract with a big publisher, once they have the bargaining power to get a decent one. They all say that lets them spend twice as much writing.
You seem to be assuming that the "middle man" provides no service whatsoever. Most professional writers universally disagree with you, and I find them far more credible than you.
>the real professionals, like Scalzi, who make their living off writing - are not about to let the fans' interests get in the way of their mortgage payments.
Conveniently ignoring some of scifi's biggest names of the last few years - Greg Egan, Charles Stross, Corey Doctorow - who release large swathes of their work online, for free.
Not 100% sure about Doctorow, but Egan and Stross both have made their careers by publishing through traditional publishers. Stross, in particular, has written quite a bit about the value of having a publisher perform publishers' duties. He may release "large swathes" of his work online for free, but he makes his living selling his books to one of the biggest publishers in the world. Everything else is PR, hoping to promote that income.
Doctorow appears to be, at least, in part, part of the new breed who are actively trying to figure out how to make a living in the new market that is emerging, and he clearly does not consider money to be the only form of payment for his work. In other words, he's got ideals, and he's willing to take a hit on income to be seen pursuing them. Which is entirely consistent with what I said. He sides with the side that he's been successful at, which is mostly Corey Doctorow.