Mate it's personal choice. If it's not legally required and it's a private flight then the onus is on the pilot as to the level of SAR protection they want for that particular flight.
It is personal choice to have health insurance, contents, income protection etc. Everyone makes a decision on these sorts of things based on their perception of the risk to them of having or not having such things. If a person wants to fly themselves somewhere with no SAR protection and private passengers carried are aware of the arrangements then what is the problem.
It's about time people took responsibility for their own actions and didn't rely on government to make decisions for them. This nation is heading towards a nanny state where no individual choice is allowed. Why not dispense with the flight plan and insert a computer chip (into every pilot) with GPS that is mointored by Satellite...