OVC002 wrote: " ... an unshakeable belief that what is legal is safe."
I do not believe I know anyone who believes that. Flying in compliance with the law is not necessarily to say that it is safe; it is merely legal.
To fly legally, though, is to remove one set of stress factors from oneself, allowing concentration on other issues, like safety. This is to say nothing of civil and societal responsibility.
Operating anywhere near MAUW, and being sure of staying below it, obviously requires a W&B schedule to be completed. I suggest that training regimes are such that the act of completing the W&B schedule inclines the pilot to address the issue of safety. If it also inclines the pilot to consider structural and loading issues, etc., then that is good.