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> It saddens and enrages me to ponder how many people either have so little respect for programmers or so much ignorance of programming that they think that they can get away with this. Would these people try the same thing with lawyers? Or even plumbers?

I don't think it should sadden or enrage you. The vast majority of people posting on these sites have very little idea what it takes to get things done, what constitutes quality work, etc. If they see they can get a dev to work on something for $5 / hour and detail what they want and get it delivered, I fail to see how it affects you in any way. There is always going to be a low-end market for developers. If wages in countries currently popular for outsourcing/contracting go up, there will be another group of developing countries with people willing to work for "low" wages.

If you're looking for work, I know at least oDesk allows you to filter based on price, so you don't need to see these types of jobs. I know many people are willing to pay higher wages to experienced designers and developers who do quality work, are reliable, and can easily understand specs and offer expertise. While I imagine a ton of work on these sites are done for $5-10/hour, I do see some people getting paid $50+/hour for their work.