large income..." and so on - well, you also wouldn't have $500k in debt from two doctors' training costs. Your points still stand, but $500k is waaaay above average debt for doctors finishing training now. Half that is still daunting, but people finishing with $300k+ are well above average (and starting to approach outlier status), and have often made either some poor choices or had really bad luck. Or they had exceptionally long training, but that means they'll have exceptionally high income too (like ortho or neurosurgery).

And I'd agree with your point that people complaining about these loans aren't living in mansions. That's exactly the point. Keep your debt reasonable (and let's say average debt is a proxy for that, so say $210k for an individual doctor - and yes, it's a different discussion as to how to do that but includes things like not living in luxury apartments when in med school or going to cheaper state schools when it's an option), and then live reasonably for the first several years after training to dig out of the hole. That's really not too unreasonable in my opinion, and not different than what people earning other professional degrees need to do (JD, MBA, etc). The problem is when you jump straight to the lifestyle of a mid-career, attending doctor straight out of training. It's tough, but it's an indulgence that should be avoided typically. That said, everyone's situation is different. Just my take.