You don't think that your first captain thought you were the same guy who didn't know enough to contribute either when you were that fresh faced cadet?
Please, if you're going to quote me then at least do me the courtesy of doing it in context. My comments were about attitude and overall understanding of the wider industry/things going on. It's no good being an ace on the stick and rudder if you can't do the rest of it and that requires the right attitude. I'm not against cadetships, uni courses (how could I when I've ticked both boxes) and nor am I against GA. What I am against is a pilot (any pilot irrespective of background) not approaching the job with the right attitude.
Further, I may be an ex-cadet but you have no idea what my background is or how I approached the job. Captain Paul Holland- being the gentleman he is- provided me with a great introduction into airline flying. Captains that I flew with after that like Max Horton, Ernie Bolton, Dave Bracewell, Tony Walker, Les Taylor, et al, welcomed me as a contributing member of the crew because I at least had the right attitude.
The amazing thing is that at times I've had better 'support' from low time ex cadets just out of flight school who have the right attitude than I have from high time ex GA/MIL/cadet pilots (long time S/Os) with the wrong attitude. I know which I prefer.