does anyone else think that there is a HUGE element of this mentality in the PhD process:

'it was hard for me, so it will be hard for you.'

I think there are hordes of supervisors, post-docs, senior graduate students who think that because they struggled with poor supervision, and in overcrowded overworked conditions, it is the norm, character building, and weak to complain about it. I find this a problem generalised to a lot of fields, inside and outside academia... and it frustrates me.

Can't speak for other people, but I don't think it's WEAK to complain, I just don't think it gets you anywhere. If it was hard for me, it probably will be hard for you because nothing is changing.