The fact of the matter is that you get what you put in. Money doesn't just appear out of nowhere so everyone can pursue whatever they think is interesting.

I've put enough time into World of Warcraft to where I could have earned two PhD's... that doesn't mean I'm entitled to a goddamn thing because of it. I mean... Doctor of Medieval History. I didn't even know such a thing existed. I'm sure it's hard work, but it's monetarily useless unless you happen to coordinate a Ren Faire or work at a museum or something along those lines.

It really blows my mind how people just drift through the academic system without putting any thought into how marketable their career path that their degree leads into is. Even aside from that fact, and I've looked into graduate schools leading into a position at a 4-year university as a professor -- all the universities care about is how often you can publish research, and how profitable the research is that you're doing. If you're not making money for the university, you're not going to get money in return, that's the bottom line. Get published -> make money for the university. or Don't produce anything of value -> become an adjunct.

Having a PhD, in and of itself, does not mean anything. All that the title means is that you posses an entry-level qualification for a position in higher research or education. It doesn't excuse you from being shitty and useless, unfortunately.

/truth