They don't belong in the real world in the sense that people get paid in the real world. Meanwhile, most academics go into debt, earn very little, and work long

They don't belong in the real world in the sense that people get paid in the real world. Meanwhile, most academics go into debt, earn very little, and work long hours trying to genuinely contribute something to society as a whole. This is why so many phd students in computer science and related technical fields go into industry where they can get over double the salary from day one. Many academics do have a very negative view of none academics, precisely because of the sentiment that you so eloquently put into words. The irony is that society is eager as ever to consume the technologies and knowledge that comes from academic research, yet somehow expect all that for free, and even get angry when their results don't come fast enough. The me generation indeed.