Just curious why the negative view towards U.S. pilots in the rest of the world. According to IATA, North America beats out Europe, North Asia, Africa , South America, Central America, Caribbean and Asia-Pacific in terms of safety ratings (based on hull losses). Historically the United States has the largest, busiest, and safest aviation system in the world. Yet the rest of the world berates and degrades U.S. licensed/trained pilots as inferior to colleagues in the rest of the world.
I am studying for the JAA/EASA ATPL written exams right now. Yes they are very extensive and there is a lot of material. But the VAST majority of the stuff I am studying is totally unrelated to anything I have used in nearly two decades of professional flying, and over a decade of airline flying.