Bartholomew,
I don't think it is fully fair to blame the pilots, as I have stated before on the 'Pay to Fly' threads the blame lies with scurrilous airline managers cost cutting ruthlessly and relying on automation/aircraft reliability within the cockpit to keep the jets flying.
The demise of core skill capability is of major concern to any of us who have taken a more circatious route to ATPL's. Sadly when there are enough pilots willing to part with substantial amounts of money to achieve their 'dream' the system won't change and the managers and HR people will pick and choose as they will.
But don't blame the pilots. Those commiting to 75-80,000 pounds of training, often with families and mortgages in tow have little or no choice but to bite the bullet and continue to cough up with the scarce hope of a decent job at the end of it. Sadly, by the very act of pay to fly they are killing off the possible future returns they hope for as the terms of the industry plummet.
This has already occured in the rotary world and is now happening in the fixed wing world. It will only end if positive action is taken or a horrific accident.
I know which I hope for.