Fly Antonov,
You are making some very general statements about a large group of people and I don't think you have all the facts.
You say we knew what we were getting into. Well I started at CTC at the start of 2007 and everything in the airline industry was rosy then. Would you have turned down a place at CTC back then when they still had a 100% placement record and you'd still be earning £1200- 1500 a month after your repayments? I admit it is ultimately my responsibility and believe me I am paying the price but I'm just saying it wasn't a stupid decision to go ahead with it. Like someone here said: it was a gamble, but the odds looked good. What in life isn't a gamble? Anyway, I took the gamble and now I'm dealing with it the best I can.
I was unlucky to miss out on permanent contracts by a month or two when everything went pear shaped but then again I was luckier than some because after some time in the holdpool I got a TR and some flying.
You seem to dislike CTC guys because you view them as being spoilt rich kids who think they automatically deserve a place in the RHS of a jet. That is only true of a very small minority of them, the majority are a good bunch. I am not spoilt or rich, I paid for my PPL myself whilst working on weekends and holidays when at school and uni. My parents don't even own their house or a car. When I applied to CTC it was speculatively: I didn't really think I'd get in but I did. If I hadn't I would have gone modular after 4-6 years of saving up doing another career and I would have made it happen that way.
When I was laid off last Autumn things looked grim. It was not expected that me or my colleagues would be needed back and no other airlines were hiring. The bank was not meeting us halfway and it looked like bankruptcy. I was very fortunate to find a bush flying job in Africa which I was very excited about (re: previous statement that we don't all think we "deserve" a place in RHS of a jet) and was all set to go when I unexpectedly got called back to my airline very recently. Africa has been postponed and I'm going back as this is a last reprieve from bankruptcy for me and even now it's not clear what's going to happen. I am doing everything humanly possible to deal with my situation.
I don't really understand why you will be clapping at the "upcoming bloodbath from the sidelines" or whatever you said. What's so good about stuff like this happening to people? Maybe you're just not a very nice person...
Anyway, I wish you all the best Fly Antonov, I hope you fix your attitude but I also hope you find a flying job. Don't forget, we're all pilots, we all have the same dream. What's happening now is not other pilot's faults, it's the situation.