IO540
I completely agree with you.
If you had told me, 5 years ago, that the EU will not spend £billions on a GPS satellite system to rival the US, I would have agreed with that too.
If you think that permit aircraft (microlight/PFA) are insignificant in this debate, have a look at what percentage of new aircraft registrations they have represented over the past few years. Add to this the number of sub-permit aircraft (foot launched, paramotors, hang gliders) that don't show up in the registrations. Mode S will affect all of these too.
If you want to fly airways, then Mode S is great. If you want to fly locally on summer evenings, its not so great. If Crazybroadsword's friend has come up with a workable, lightweight, low power unit, then that's progress. At the moment, the situation is like being forced to fix a car battery to your mountain bike, to power its lights, whether you intend to cycle at night or not.