Hell, take-off, autopilot on, monitor autopilot, approach, autopilot off, land, park. Take the credit for the flight.
Just think of mechanics who have to find the source of a fuel leak outside in snowstorms and rain or ground crew that sometimes wish they could duplicate themselves to cope with the workload to keep airplanes flying on time. Or even ATC who handle dozens of moving dots on a screen, each representing hundreds of souls
And who do you reckon will be in charge of making things right during the flight when things badly go wrong?! Have you ever thought about your flights as a passenger when you have arrived at your destination safe and sound while there was a terrible failure of the aeroplane systems, or engines even, and you haven't ever noticed anything fatal around you? You are completely wrong to think of pilots like additional monitoring systems getting paid for just monitoring!!! Trust me, many pilots are out there ready to tell you about terrifying incidents they've been through...Few minutes, or even seconds, felt like a whole day and night long. Why do they bother? Because they like "monitoring"?? Hell no! It's because they naturally fit those seats in the front of that tube, and are skilled enough to handle such tough times and then get you on your feet cheerfully out of the tube! They earn their money in reward of making you and the airline company safe and happy!!
I think you've made the right decision by giving up training as a pilot, and I'm happy for you and for my fellow pilots too. Aviation industry doesn't really need people with such a mentality. Despite all what you have said about the "Flight Deck Manager Projection", do yourself a favour and go back to basics first to learn the difference between a man and a machine!
Good luck