Panama Jack,
our profession cannot be compared to umbrellas and jeans;these goods cost less if made in China because people who make them overthere are underpaid but can still have a roof over their heads and a pot of rice when they come home after work (if they ever get to go home that is...), talking in aviation terms now you should bring chinese pilots over here (cannot be based in Shangai and do the NY-Miami flight in the morning) to the west and let them do our jobs...but how will they survive here if they are underpaid?And even if they accepted to work for an hamburger and a tent in the park would the passengers still feel ok in taking a plane?And what about new cadets in flight schools?There would be no more people wanting to become a pilot because of the job's low standards of life and because of the extremely high education costs and therefore unless the third world countries' pilot population was endless, there would be no more pilots creating therefore a shortage and consequently again a rise in salaries...etc etc....this world and economy are far more complicated than you think
By the way, here in Europe low cost airlines seem to pay their drivers quite well putting them surely between the so called high paid jobs so i think they are saving on other stuff.