I have considered teaching, but...

[enlightenment]

3. Can we please leave the

"good people" canard out of this discussion?

Geeze. Adjunct faculty make up more than half of ALL higher education faculty. Not all of them are "young idealistic kids or old retirees" and the vast majority are most certainly both "good people" and good educators.

And it is most certainly NOT a hobby for many, many people.

If you're going to try and make yourself the resident expert on the situation of adjunct faculty in US higher education, please do us the favor of leaving the value judgements at home. You might also want to spend some time reading up on the issue instead of trotting out the same tired refrains heard over and over again by people who briefly consider adding "college instructor" to their CV until they realize that it isn't worth the effort.

The Chronicle of Higher Ed has many good - and freely accessible articles on this topic. The New Majority can also provide you plenty of information. The Adjunct Project is an excellent source of raw data.