As a doctoral student, I very much resent the implication that PhD equals tool. The decision to pursue a post-baccalaureate degree is quite personal; equally so, the decision of which degree to pursue. Might I add that in my particular department, all doctoral students receive university support in the form of a fellowship which pays for tuition and (barely) living expenses. I can tell you as a fact that most of us do not come from anything remotely approximating a political or economic elite, and that none of us have any kind of vested interest in maintaining a scarcity of resources.

I can not claim to speak for every graduate student in every department in the country, but that has been my experience. I would appreciate it if you would refrain from making nasty generalizations about post-secondary education. You refer to more people than you can possible hope to characterize with such broad strokes. Many of us have worked very hard, and with very good motives, in pursuit of our goals.