Even the lowliest reservations person knows what the five freedoms are - and I have used ch long all over N Alberta, and HF radio (dead space and all that). I still maintain that if you are a true professional, you should be finding out as much as possible about your profession. A well-briefed lawyer, for example, will go into court with every possibility catered for, even if it is never used. So it should be with us.
If people are taking short cuts now, what short cuts will they be taking when they are flying? The ability to do the Aircraft General Knowledge exam within ten minutes based on whatever database I regard as a serious CRM problem.
I personally rather favour the Australian or Canadian systems. The Australian for their exam content, and the Canadian for the consistent checkrides.
Phil