...there's a whole wide world out there, most of which is more important than aviation, which is after all a luxury
ML - I would only take seriously such comments and the mindset behind them, if the person making them (i) never ate a banana, organge or similar air-freighted tropical fruit, (ii) neither owned nor used any air-freighted Japanese or Asian technology be it a PC, watch, hi-fi or mobile phone, and (iii) only ever travelled within the UK mainland.
Unless you can claim to comply with all of the aforementioned criteria, I suggest you apply to become a Life Member of the National Hypocrite Association as you appear fully to meet its membership requirements.