lets say we do our 900 hours a year with an an average 5 flight and 8 duty a day.. with 4 weeks off a year thats 3.75 days a week...
Hardly slaving ... and I dont think you will find too many doctors or lawyers on those hours either...
While I can see what you're saying, unless you are in an upper-end GA job or an airline doing those hours, quite often pilots need to work a SECOND JOB on top of those hours in order to survive financially. How many Dr's/Lawyers do you see doing THAT...?
It generally takes a pilot a long time to get to the point where he can have those 'easier' hours with a corresponding paycheck. From my observations, I reckon a lot of pilots (perhaps not the ones who have had recent quick progression) can be up to around 10 years behind financially compared to peers who chose other careers. If they are then in a job that 'appears' to be overpaid they probably need and deserve it in order to catch up on all the 'lost time...'