Well said. Beware though, among all these red-blooded social-conservative-in-name-only military and airline pilots who lurk this board, you might be labeled an outright communist for actually appreciating said economic egalitarianism endemic of the Government pay structure.

I like getting paid in dollars and not ILS's. The day we have a labor party in this country is the day I'll apply for a private job. Not holding my breath.
Congratulations on your govt job!

--break break---

USMC et al,

Indignation over my 'hobby pilot' remark is your choice. If the shoe fits, the shoe fits. What I need to reiterate, as it may have caused a misunderstanding, is that I'm not referring to one's ability to perform said duties or to behave oneself professionally in a workplace setting. Military background or not, this is not what I'm driving at. Simply put, if you do NOT primarily rely on the monetary compensation of a particular vocational pursuit, you are a hobby worker. You may feel you owe nobody anything, but people in that category erode and hinder the peer's ability to attain living compensation for the pursuit of their vocation. Nobody is saying being a hobby pilot makes you sub-par in the performance of the duties, it just undercuts others ability to bring home the bacon. In 'eff you I got mine America' this might be par for the course, and even of no moral objection to you; I just happen to disagree with it and consider it the fundamental source of the problem.

Because something is so "cool" to do, it pays crap. Some manage a way of dealing with that pesky "making a livelihood" aspect and get to still do it for the "coolness" factor. Ergo, it's a HOBBY. I'm not extrapolating anything, this is as simple a definition as it gets. But adjudicating on others that it's on them to figure out a way to afford their "profession" is quite literally diluting the value of their labor. This only floats around circles where "eff you I got mine" is embraced, so you do the math.

This actually reminds me of similar arguments made against having "Guard babies" in the Reserve Components. Only well-to-do separating O-3 and O-4s should be allowed the "priviledge" of serving their country in a fighting capacity because they could afford to do it on the heels of 10 years of sweet govt cheese. Meanwhile the Lts and junior Capts are there hacking the mish, giving the service a heck of lot longer shelf life than the separating major, and here comes these separating folks, elbows-DEPLOY boldface, storming in on a fat savings account, making remarks that border on openly questioning the motivations behind these broke Reservists attempting to balance their service commitments with paying the bills for their family. A mile in my shoes brother. Insulting? Yeah economic attrition warfare is what I find insulting from the well-to-do crowd. Hobby pilot is right.

EDIT to Add: I re-read the post and want to make sure you don't misunderstand my position as antagonizing or dismissing your life accomplishments. I just feel passionately about socio-economics and their place in our workplace, and I do feel pilots who do not rely on their pilot jobs as a primary source of income are not a positive input to the attainment of a livelihood for the median worker and, as socialistic as it may ring for some, some sense of social equity should exist when making these "vocational" choices.