I read a Kurt Vonnegut bio not long ago. KV's older brother, Bernard, didn't understand why Kurt bothered to write books. The brother was an accomplished scientist, which is what KV wanted to be as a youngster before figuring out he didn't have the chops.
The older brother was amazed in the end that Kurt made as much money at it as he did--literally millions. That didn't make him like the books or see any value in them--just caused him to be amused.
What most Americans seem to lack is a sense of balance.
Money trumps everything. If you're indifferent to making a ton of cash and willing to settle for survival and the world of the arts, you are relegated to a form of second-class citizenship.
The indifference of others to your art can be soul-wrecking if you let it be.
Any artist worth his beans attacks the status quo in return, for that is the artist's only path to salvation. To fight back, to embarrass those who would denigrate or destroy him, is the only reasonable thing to do.
TS
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