Well but didn't the stnadards actually allow him to get strong by harvesting the hate or whatsoever. Silly to blame the whole standards for that? He should have mentioned the specific part that the standards did wrong?
Sure the standards made the heroes stronger but not following them wouldn't change that as you know he won't increase in power either along with the heroes. Both will stay relatively same regardless. 
How is a reader supposed to agree with the MC without a reason?