While I understand your point concerning how carrying avalanche safety equipment can alter an inexperienced riders personal risk management levels, I certainly don't agree with downplaying the importance of carrying proper safety gear. If you are riding in mountainous terrain, carrying a beacon shovel & probe (at a minimum!) can save lives!
What if you were minding your own business in nice safe terrain and there happens to be a group of less experienced riders caught in a bad slide right near your location? Would you leave them to their fate? Personally, I would head over, pop my beacon into search and start getting people up on the surface as fast as I could.
There is definite merit to avalanche avoidance. Experienced, well-trained sledders are able to identify and avoid the vast majority of avalanche terrain. Unfortunately, even accessing safe mellow terrain usually involves crossing existing slide paths. And then there is the fact that experienced, well-trained sledders aren't exactly investing tens of thousands of dollars on a sled just to ride safe mellow terrain.
Modern snowmobiling is an adventure sport. People are willing to take certain risks in order to get a certain thrill. There is nothing you can do that is going to stop people from entering avalanche terrain. But we can teach good decision making! That is the main issue in my mind. It takes a commitment to safe practices, having the proper safety gear, educating yourself on the potential hazards, and staying up to date on the local conditions.
Beacons, shovels, probes, avalanche airbags... these are all tools. Tools designed to help save lives. In my mind there isn't a single valid argument against carrying them. Knowledge is also a tool. Unfortunately, you can't just buy it in a store. It takes time, training, and experience to acquire.
I was safe and met the requirements of that first certificate, but I was very inexperienced. I had good instructors for my foundation, but I have flown with other guys since that scared the hell out of me. I've made MANY mistakes over the years, but by GODS grace, I haven't bent any planes or hurt anyone. I have however lost a few friends along the way (maybe similar to other Mountain riders here). Some, better aviators than I will ever be. One of my grey haired mentors along the way taught me there is no such thing as a perfect flight. There is ALWAYS something that could have been done better. We debriefed after each mission and had a "candid" discussion without any consideration for ego. That's not always easy to do. But if you have a desire to learn and improve its a worthy process. If we can have a candid and thoughtful discussion at the end of the riding day, we might just learn something that we happened to miss during the ride. Those debriefings can be over a beer if you still have your wits about you and can help improve our awareness for the next day. 
