Picmas, although I principally agree with you I find your argument fundamentally flawed. It is not reasonable to expect that a new pilot will take a stand against the current system refusing to buy a type rating in order to support the traditional way of progressing. Your opinion that pilots should avoid buying a rating and doing it the "old fashioned" way is simply wishful thinking. Don't get me wrong, I'm the first one to sign up should this be possible to implement. For this to happen ALL pilots need to stand together and refuse the current system. Again, this is an utopia and will simply not happen. I do admire you and your likes though who have managed to climb the ladder without buying your way into the industry! Unfortunately you are an ever shrinking minority...
I believe the problem not to be the pilots as such but rather the structure in Europe and the qualifications needed to fly one of those shiny jets. Fact is that an MPL student with 200h (of which most is sim time) is allowed to fly a B737/A320 straight out of school. Is this possible in the states? No it is not. The EASA/JAR etc is a deeply corrupt system enabling air carriers to exploit pilots to the very fullest. Until we get LEGAL REQUIREMENTS that value ACTUAL FLIGHT EXPERIENCE we are all more or less fukced. I find the debate "I detest you for buying yourself into the industry vs I need to feed my family and can't get a decent job if I don't buy a rating" to be utterly pointless and contra productive. The cuture/system defines the framework of what your "career ladder" will look like. Let's look at the states and more particular at Southwest. Undoubtedly the most successful low cost carrier in the world and a true example of a company caring for its employees. They require some 1000h PIC before even being eligible to apply for an F/O position. This true for most (if not all) carriers in the US. I similar system in Europe would completely annihilate the current problem with rating inflation.
So how do we achieve this? We wait. The governing factor is the passengers and their willingness to pay a decent amount of money for their ticket. Until we have a really deadly crash similar to Colgan air
Colgan Air Flight 3407 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia nothing will happen. People need to pay with their lives in order for change to occur. This is also true regarding to the new FTL regulations (Which are of course indirectly made by the companies).
To sum up: Until we get a proper frame work based on legal regulations young guys and gals will continue to do what it takes to get a job. This includes getting exploited by the companies to the very fullest...