I'm with you on that. It also seems completely against the Boeing ethos of when the auto pilot is off you should be hand flying the plane and your control input

I'm with you on that. It also seems completely against the Boeing ethos of when the auto pilot is off you should be hand flying the plane and your control inputs dictate the movement of the flight surfaces. That has been a perceived difference in philosophy between Boeing and Airbus. MCAS sounds like a hastly thrown together work around and a disaster waiting to happen.