Oh I do love pprune debates. I finally realise why my wife watches Emmerendersoakdalestreet every night. Priceless.
Seeing as this has become a comedy thread, I see it this way:-
In the old days we had double-d clutches. It was tricky to master a mere gear change. You got a driving licence by winking at the postman but only the true greats got to drive the E-Type. Everyone else drove inspired driver's cars like the original Mini, but we were all rally-drivers in our own minds. Driving slowly was fun and driving fast even more so on the empty roads, but sometimes incredibly hard work because of the poor quality road surface.
Getting a job flying a Boeing 737 is like buying a Ferrari 458 in the modern day. Any moron can step out of their BSM Corsa after a driving test, rob their folks or borrow some loot and slide into into the driving seat of a high performance and technologically advanced supercar. I'm willing to bet that they'll be able to drive it safely enough to avoid crashing on the way to Tesco with their Granny in the passenger seat.
Very few people could drive the same Ferrari 458 at high speed around a tricky racetrack that requires Lewis Hamilton handling skills without making acquaintence with a grandstand or two. But does that stop lottery winners and footballers from buying them? No, because very few of those Ferraris will ever see a race track. They spend their lives on busy but anodine public roads being driven very sedately for fear of getting a ticket or crashing into roadabouts in the wet. Do we all need to be Lewis Hamiltons?
It's the same in flying and that's the reason why.... Oh hell... I've forgotten where my analogy was heading... balls.
PS: I prefer things the way they were in the heyday, but I live in 2011 and am making the most of my opportunities now.