This post started out as a simple question by someone concerned about their friends at United and look where it has gone.
This is why we pilots continue to get screwed by our management. I cannot recall a single thread that has ever run more than one page on this forum where individuals haven't started fighting with one another. I could post that the new paint scheme for airline so and so looks good and sure enough some jack-#ss would have to make some snide remark about even that.
There are a lot of bitter people out there (and I must admit, sometimes it's me as well) who have invested a lot of time and energy to get into this profession only to besmirch everyone involved with it.
Pilots for other airlines are not the enemy, generally, management is. They are the opportunist who played on people's fears after 9-11 and who continue to try and convince pilots that we are equal in duties to FA's and the aircraft cleaning crew. They only way we can ever hope to regain some semblance of a profession that is desirable is to support one another and stop seeing everyone else as the competition out to put one over on you.
Arguing over everything one can think of only gives the coporate hegemony what they want. That isn't just true in the microcosm of pilot contracts, this is true for us as a nation as well. As long as we allow ourselves to be divided, or volunteer to do so as so many do on Flightinfo or as we do politically on a national level, we have absolutely no hope of improvement.
We must re-learn the art of living together in harmony and not being so cynical about everything. Trust me, I am the pot accusing the kettle here, but it is true nonetheless.