i think pay is directly responsible for the type of person you get in a career. just look at medical professions. due to bureacrats in office trying to make medicine cheaper and the increased cost of insurance, doctors are now making less and less per year. the smartest people out there are going for different careers that actually PAY. you definitely get what you pay for, and pilots are no different. it's just too bad that pay will continue like this for a long time.