Good post, PM.
Some of us were lucky enough to have the basics paid for by Her Maj, so I have nothing but respect for people who go it alone and shell out money every day not knowing where it will all end.
If you have the money in the bank to do your own training, you have to ask whether that money would have been better used in starting a business, then flying for pleasure.
It is true that flying has suffered from the tick box mentality over recent years, and that has taken a lot of the fun out of it.
But is being an airline pilot what you want? The most fun I ever had was firefighting.