I wish that people wouldn't pay for line training either. That is the moralistic view, and I admire that, however the fact remains that you and I cannot pursuade thousands of people not to part with their money - that ship set sail long ago and it isn't coming back to port. Rather than targeting newbies with the mantra about not paying for training, people should be looking at those who are already in influential positions in the industry - the chief/management pilots of the world. The trouble is, like most pilots, once inside the industry they forget where they came from, and they are supporting these "self sponsored" schemes. Young wannabee pilots have been sold out by the senior guys and the unions.
Compare that to doctors - when the UK health service tried to slash the terms and conditions of junior doctors, everybody from top consultants down to house doctors were striking and protesting about it.
I finish with two points. It is easier to change an industry from the inside than the outside.
Secondly, what have the unions done about this issue? Nothing! Why, because most of the union members already have jobs and don't care about the new guys and girls. This is short sighted though, because the erosion of terms and conditions starts at the junior positions and works up (not the other way around), so in the long term they will be a victim of their own selfishness.
I am fortunate in that I got a job with one of the few airlines that still pay for all the training, but I had to move thousands of miles away from home to achieve this. I really feel sorry for the guys and girls trying to get a flying job these days.