They are and stupid, deluded people existed in the 80s too. Besides, buying a TR with a guaranteed job at the end is one thing, buying a TR with 50 - 75 hours attached when qualified, experienced people are losing theirs is disrespectful, a complete mockery of the food chain, bad karma, short termist (what do they think will happen the following year - much, much more so on a scheme like this than Ryanairs), impatient and dreadfully, ignorantly thick in my view. Of course, little William, whos parents are so proud that he has scraped a CPL/IR will pay for it so that they can say at dinner parties that 'William's now a pilot for Easyjet'.
The Beak - Amen to that. I think you have summed up what hundreds of guys are feeling. This whole thing runs much deeper than just whacking a ton of money down that Mummy and Daddy have fronted up (because lets face it, the banks won't for much longer!) Its also a moral view point and an ethical code of conduct that comes into play here, especially with regard to your fellow (much more experienced) pilots in the current climate.
Cue the hardcore business analysts who will claim that this is purely economic forces at work and business is business...