Actually - I learned to fly for the fun of it. My training was always sourced in a deep personal love for aviation. Whether I sit in a jet on someone else's terms for a career or do something else and fly for fun has no bearing on whether I feel I got my money's worth.

Additionally, I started flying in 1998 at 16 years old. I spread the costs over a matter of 8 or 9 years and came out the end debt free with parallel training in another field (recommended to me at the time by pilots galore). My go at the airlines was begun with eyes wide open, skeptical the whole time from what I had heard from others in it.

I did it until I had a furlough notice in one hand and a displacement notice in the other and decided that getting displaced for 2 months only to get kicked on the street wasn't in my best interest. I chose to grab the reigns myself and go a different direction.

Do I miss it? Yes. In some ways. I did have the time of my life, made lots of friends, etc. Much of it sucked too. I felt and still feel all of what you described in your original post and completely agree with the fact that the current state of affairs is VERY subpar. However, based on direct observation and a fairly learned understanding of business affairs, it appears to me that this industry isn't headed where we want it to go and I honestly think that once one pulls out of the rat race, the viewpoint shifts to, perhaps, a more holistic view of the situation, rather than the pilot centrist view only (a valid view, but one of many different views that affect the path of things).