As another former Rampy I agree 100% with Pratt X 3.
Yes it was hard work. On the other hand I got 3 PPC's out of it and did not have to pay for or sign a bond for any of them. I certainly never felt I was being exploited.
I've noticed people getting into this business today have an unbelievable sense of entitlement - the concept of working for something or earning something is completely foreign to them. They expect everything to be given to them.
Do you really want to go to a pay-to-fly system where everyone pays cash for a rating? That's the system in Europe now.