People passive invest in index funds because active funds consistently underperform the market. Musk and Wood have a point but for the majority of people, what

People passive invest in index funds because active funds consistently underperform the market. Musk and Wood have a point but for the majority of people, what are the alternatives? Playing the slot machines? As a side note, I recently picked up "Local Dollars, Local Sense" by Michael Shuman. One of the takeaways so far is that regulations make it extremely difficult for people to invest in small to mid companies that are local to them. The laws all but force us into the jaws of Wall Street. Perhaps this would be an alternative if the regs were loosened up? https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25087017M/Local_dollars_local_sense https://openlibrary.org/books/OL25087017M/Local_dollars_loca...