Q: Why are there so many more people in high sec vs Null or low
A: You can't make money anywhere except in high sec

Reasoning:

You build ships - the general rabble sell them in Jita or surrounding sales hubs so you have to sell them there as well.
You mine - and you need to sell the resulting mins - in a high sec trade hub
You make components/ammo etc - you have to sell them in high sec to make money.
Buying BPs and shipping them out to null is essential only to make supers.

Proof:

Let's paint the normal scenario of existing in Eve.
Lets say you are a builder of BS and Carriers and you want to sell them to fund your playing experience. You want to do this in null sec.
You need the BP, mins and skills. Got the money to purchase said items? No - mine or mission or buy all required items by selling PLEX. OK - got the cash now buy the BPOs in null... no, low sec maybe ...no ...HIGH SEC!

The next step assumes you are crazy enough (or have the brosefs around) to get the BP from high-sec to null without gettting ganked. Let us also assume you have null sec space because you have either captured the space or have entered into an agreement that allows you to dock and use station slots.

Having succeed getting them into your space - the next step is to prepare the BP to be cost effective - that will require time and station/POS facilities,
So you get the mins in null (if you can mine them), build the ships in null -but can't get everything you want to fit in the ships in null so you got to go where they are being sold - high sec.
SO many stages that adds SO much risk and then you find that cost wise, they are cheaper in high sec. So you end up thinking ... why the hassle?


tl;dr Morale of the story is if you are a builder and you want to make real money, you HAVE to go to high sec to sell - you cannot sell it in substantial numbers in null hence you cannot make the money you need to make in null.


Q: Why do Vets leave Eve?
A: It becomes a job

Reasoning:

As most forum posts will point out - you need to be part of a group to do most things in Eve (to accomplish significant goals). That means that in the majority of cases those that wish to play solo will get bored more quickly and leave. If you want good fites you need to be part of a null sec alliance, being subject to the rules and conditions of the group.
This means your Eve time becomes a job - a place that requires your application and time, consuming more time as more requirements present themselves to be fulfilled. Then there is the need for self-sufficiency which necessitates a ratting grind or a trip to high sec to sell the stuff you have made in null (with all the risks included).

After 5 yrs of doing this you think - no more - I don't want a non-paying job or the hassle of defending a pixel landscape with a group of great like-minded people, or the grind for pixel money - my family deserve my full attention as they are not pixels...


tl;dr We already have a life and Eve only takes away from it (although it takes a few years to realise).
There is no way of playing a small game of Eve


People complain that skill = skill points
If a 6mth newb that has trained his rifter and associated skills to lvl5 - comes across a 6yr old vet that is in a rifter - that is a level playing field ship wise. If a 1v1 situation occurrs in that scenario, you are left with skill as the decider. The ONLY thing the vet has over the newb is lots more choice.

What has Eve taught you?