Shibumi,
here are my answers to your questions, at least a couple of them.
I agree about the quality of the overall pool of referees.
Parents/fans are going to yell and scream no matter what sport it is if they have a vested interest in the game, a child playing or their favorite school. In other sports does the fan yelling cause officials to stop working games? I do not think so. I reffed basketball a couple of seasons and the fans yell at the ref just as much as in soccer but they do not have a problem getting officials. But they have the joy of having a huge pool of players/fans who grew up with the game of basketball and are willing to officiate. We is soccer, hopefully, will start having this luxary soon. Once the young players of today become "adults" and are willing to become officials. I think the "root cause" is not money but lack of officials.
Someone said why do we not just get basketball officials to become soccer referees and teach them the game. I worked, as a referee, with a partner that came to soccer from basketball without any soccer experience. Needless to say it was a very interesting game. I feel that you need some sort of soccer experience to referee. And not just "refereeing from the stands".
Just my thoughts which I am sure are questionable at best since they tend to rumble around in the empty space between my ears.
