If it rains on the crest of a hill, the water flows downhill.
Blaming this generation of pilots for the decline in terms and conditions at all levels in the industry is akin to blaming the rivers for filing after the rains.
Had the older generation of pilots been born closer to the millennium than the end of WWII or during the Swinging Sixties, they too would have seen a job market collapse, traditional 'self-improvement' options die a death, and the advent of the locos. As with the current crop of cadets, the bold and the desperate would find a way of funding their 'dream' career while the others would give up. Many of the 'others' could be potential Chuck Yaegers, just as I should have played footie for Man United but never got my chance.
Responsibility for the state of the industry should lie at the feet of the Regulators and Capitalism - the combination of dark forces which have reduced red tape to allow increased profits for the elite; promoted incredibly cheap flights and holidays for the masses in the name of social fairness; and which have allowed a profession to be devalued by likening the piloting of highly complex airplanes at 35,000 feet to driving buses.