Buitenzorg seems like a dutch name. There are a lot of pilots out there and obviously you can't fly with them all. I personally think there are a lot of pilots who should never have become pilots in the first place.
However I do think that the main focus should be flying and not theoretical knowledge you don't need. Knowledge about the aircraft/aerodynamics/weather/ airspace regs. is essential of course.
I see a huge difference between military trained pilots and civilian trained pilots. In the end they're all flying with a JAA license. But is this discussion about good or bad pilots?? In that case this thread will go on forever.
Licensing should not be there to protect the jobmarket, but to make sure there are (high) standards. In this case JAA does that maybe, but I also do think we really don't need that many more pilots. There are plenty of JAA pilots around in the UK. And if they're good and willing to work they find a job. There are to many just thinking I've got a license and everybody is waiting for me. They send in a resume via email and that's it. I get them all the time, but if they can't even write a decent letter and make a phone call what do they expect? (low timers of course)
Coming back to the original question. It's just where you want to live. I lived in the US and several countries in Europe. Flying is flying.