From re-reading this thread, I get the feeling that there are those who sneer at them that carry an automatic with an empty chamber, which does not make it an unloaded gun--just empty chambered. Now that is arrogance.
I frequently read over Fairbairn's book on "Shooting to Live" (don't you love the title?). It is true that the Colt .45 automatics issued to the Shanghai police had the safeties pinned in the off position and the carry method was chamber empty. He claimed it could be demonstrated that a draw and rack-the-slide operation could be done very quickly but he did not go into the details. That's a little hard to get across in writing but I have no doubt that relative speed is quite possible.
Now, the thing on which it turns is how much speed is necessary. If the bad guy literally jumps you, I'd say it would make no difference. You'd be down for the count right away. Likewise, if he has a gun pointed at you, there's no way you can beat him. If you think you can, go ahead and try. I don't care. That's why I do not complain about anyone carrying their equalizer any old way they want, no matter how much you don't like my methods. I even think hammer down on a loaded chamber with a Colt Government Model (and only that model) is a fairly good carry method, only you may not trust the gun that much. No, it won't work on too many other guns but it isn't at all difficult to thumb cock the pistol. I can't do it reliably with a Commander-style hammer.
I think Fairbairn's issue was safety more so than actually working the thumb safety, even with the ones on the early .45 autos. In that department, as I understand it, pistols were turned in at the end of the shift and handed over to the next shift. So there was a lot of handling of guns at the station house.
Other early writers rather dismissed the .45 auto as being either slow or unsafe because of these issues, although I am absolutely certain that cocked and locked was already an accepted carry method quite early on, judging from photographs of some uniformed law enforcement officers. No retaining straps of any kind, either. Anyway, those other writers tended to favor revolvers and it wasn't until relatively recently that other autos became more acceptable, generally starting with the S&W Model 39. And that's another gun that I'd carry chamber empty rather than attempt to quickly work the safety. I carry cocked and locked first (but don't quote me).