Mod80/feivel – As Reb Yonasan Rosenbloom said recently, 21st century affluence has allowed anyone to learn in kollel.
My addition is then they claim to be “talmidei chachomim” or “best in Lakewood” and demand support. So yes, we have become “modern”, but not “enlightened”.
I don’t think we (or DY) are really disagreeing. My point is that a true talmid chacham IS better. I’ve seen many baal habatim, rabbonim, rebbes and mageidei shuir as talmidei chachomim. Kollel guys, not so much (granted, in town may have a different perspective). And girls go for the kollel guy but miss the prerequisites, so they end up without an oved Hashem (or worse, unmarried, or even worse, divorced).