Need to tell you something else:
We live in a world of Capitalism (that's what society wanted right?) so everybody wants always more, and we also live in a Low Cost world, with the bigger benefit and the lower cost. Start to think about the world we live in. Business in Capitalism is making the higher profit with the lower cost, anything else (people, families, etc) doesn't matter at all in this system. Why should be different in Aviation? Airlines can save money and get LT-L.Checked candidates who don't cost a penny to them? They will hire those who don't cost a penny and make them do an OCC and put them on the line, and they will pay them a very low salary (welcome to aviation of this century, at least at the present). Realize that.
You know will tell me about the 70's/80's, and there was also a capitalism in that era and people (and pilots) lived quite well back then with capitalism. Back then capitalism was starting, and was fighting against an opposite idea and had to set a "high standard way-of-life" to defeat the opposite idea of Comunism to attract people, society and Governments into that idea and not into comunism. That fight was won long ago, so now we have the truth behind the "high standards" promised: work a lot, pay is
. Make profit, cut costs, don't matter anything else.
A lot of people chooses to do p2f because it boosts your chances, because of age, desperation, and because no-one in aviation is your friend, and as we live in free market if someone can "buy" and get ahead of you someone will do it, and if you don't there will be always someone who can get ahead of you because they can afford and you don't. They will be be ahead of you because they are qualified with hours or whatever and you are not.
It's unfair, but it's a OPEN CHANCE. But the only ones who can end that are authorities and they have their own agenda and they don't care about pilots complaints, the will do nothing, neither about the crazy training system that supplies way more pilots that airplanes available, so realize that and do whatever you can.
I think p2f is not how things should be, but it's an open chance for people how can afford it and don't have any other opportunities left, to make interviews come and start their careers.