Jonathan, I'm not sure why people like to complain about their economic condition, especially when it is within their grasp to DO something about it. Clearly, you are, going to college to get an education so that you can DO better for yourself. What we have in America now is a "you owe me" prevalent attitude. While we know that working in a department store is never going to make the lay employee rich, we also know that the people who took the risk to open the store are being rewarded financially. There will always be employees, no one is entitled to wealth. There will always be people at the bottom of the employment chain. If your skills are a commodity, then expect commodity pay. But if your skills are in high demand, then expect greater pay.
As you point out, there are many who demand better, but what do these same people say when a business goes bankrupt? Are they joyful that a business is now gone? Or do they continue to moan about the lack of jobs available? What the average lay person does not understand is that in every business, there is always an analysis of risk to reward. i.e. - if you want to buy a car and your credit rating stinks, you get to pay the lender 20% interest for taking a greater RISK with you than the next guy with great credit.
If you want to move up the financial ladder, take on risk. The higher the risk, the higher the potential return. (This is why investment bankers, hedge funds and venture capitalists make a fortune) There will always be the "have's" and "have nots". If you look at the "have's", somewhere in their history, they took a risk. Vice versa for the "have nots".