That's the way it's been for a long time.

Same with archaeology until the last half century

How dare someone rich make something beautiful.

I'm sure a lot of poor people could make beautiful things, too. They could probably make a decent living for themselves making beautiful things. But nobody from a poor family stands a chance of that in today's world.

What we have here is a rich guy making beautiful monuments to his own ego in places few, if any, poor people will ever get to see. I would propose that for every ,000 some douchebag spends making shit like this, they must give 0 to a starving artist. That's just outright cash for the artist to spend on whatever, be it art supplies or rent or food.

Fine art has always been the domain of the rich. Historically speaking, most people lacked the time and resources necessary to develop an artistic gift; if you had to work in a field for eighty hours a week just to grow enough food for yourself, you obviously couldn't spend your time learning to paint, sculpt, or play the cello. Most artists were either independently wealthy, or more commonly, just independently wealthy enough that they could afford a good education, impress a wealthy patron, and then live off this patron's good graces.

As Thomas Gray once wrote:

"Full many a gem of purest ray serene
The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."

No matter how much talent you've got, it won't matter in the end, because your potential is always limited by your circumstances. That's not a modern problem - that is something human beings have had to cope with since, well, forever. If anything, in that regard we're better off now than we have ever been before (and depending on how the next few decades play out, perhaps than we ever will be hence).

You seem resigned to that, EvilHomer. Doesn't it piss you off just a little bit?

What is the point of all this modern technology if people are still forced to spend most of their time doing menial labor just to exist?

I wouldn't call it resigned. As I said, we're better off now than we have ever been before - here in the digital-industrial West, at least, we've got plenty of leisure time, loads of educational opportunities, and thanks to our free and decentralized internet, ways of acquiring both funds and exposure that would have been inconceivable even a generation ago. Even our homeless are able to devote most of their time to things they'd like to do - be it drugs, exploring, or art - without fear of starvation. If anything, I'm quietly optimistic!

I'm just saying, you're right. Fine art *is* something that rich people do - or rather, something that leisured people do. But it's also a calling that is far more accessible now than it's even been before. Today, art is a hobby that can pursued to some degree by anyone, be they trustafarians like this fellow, hobos like Wesley Willis, or batshit insane NEETs like CWC.

But now you have a dream future project. Put it on your resolutions list!

I actually did read it that way, and was disappointed.

I'm sure Camenante would be your patron if you make it the right kind of underwear.

You guys are gonna be busy in 2015, I can tell.

Yes you can.

There were a small handful that knew that the crash was coming or actively driving off the cliff.

The rest were chanting "HOUSING PRICES WILL ALWAYS GO UP, FOREVER!"

Sounds like I've got MY project for 2015!