Interns have been used as a cheap labor force, thousands upon thousands of internships each year in the U.S. are illegal, which has gone global and is completely unregulated, and the system is indeed inefficient and unethical in a variety of ways.

We’re actually eating our young.

via Will Work for Free: How Unpaid Internships Cheapen Workers of All Ages | The Business Desk with Paul Solman | PBS NewsHour | PBS.

Amen.  You should get paid for work.  Never work for free.