I agree that many professions require a degree of self-sponsorship to one extent or another, but I would guess that most of these professions have not seen the continual erosion of both salaries and terms & conditions that ours has. The current 'pay to fly' culture and cv covering letters that state things like 'am happy to fly for nothing to get the experience etc. etc.' only has the effect of devaluing the job for everyone.
So how much are we worth as Professional Pilots? What is a sensible salary for a Captain and F/O? Presumably a lot less than it was and certainly a lot less now than other professions with such responsibility. It seems that, as usual, it is only the beancounters who win on all this. I remember a quote long ago from one who described pilots as 'overpaid prima donnas.' The current trend of 'pay-to-fly' schemes must be an accountants dream but is nothing short of slave labour.