Capsuleers do have one redeeming feature as far as the Empires are concerned. Missioning running is, probably by a large margin, the main occupation in EVE, or at least one of the largest. Mission-running is basically bettering the factions, doing the dirty (and expensive) work they need to get done.
From the Empires' standpoint, "ok, fine, they kill each other in low sec and nullsec, and might make a nuisance of themselves from time to time, but damn if we dont have them on our mission running string, where they wipe out entire fleets for us."
That being said, its still silly, but perhaps it mitigates the silliness on some level.