I used the arms race remark in a conversation with a friend the other day.  Buying outright means working at market value hoping for an increase in price.  Mining direct means losing money at market value hoping for either a ROI or price increase.  I somewhat see them as one & the same except they both have additional benefits.  Buying outright also stimulates price exchange rates and liquidity of the coin, however, mining secures the network and introduces new coins to the overall amount distributed (not to mention distributes network hashrate).  They're both good options, but mining can't be completely eliminated from the equation either.