I'm a wannabe for the sole reason that I don't think pilots are paid enough - there was no incentive for me to change careers.
The salaries which have been mentioned aren't that bad, per se. However, take into account the responsibility and other factors then they do seem small.
The issue for me is the investment costs of training and the costs of lost earnings + financing are not justified by the salaries earned by newly qualified pilots (if they can get a job at all). Not only is this a shame, but I do wonder whether really good pilots are not entering the industry because it is not financially viable - leading to an overal reduction in quality (of course all pilots are trained to rigourous standards, but even within that some are better than others and potentially might handle an emergency situation better than others).
As a passenger it would give me greater comfort that the chaps up-front are picked purely on the basis of ability, and not just ability to pay or tolerate reducing T&Cs.