Is writting a particularly representative example of cultural production? Back in the 40's only a quarter of the adult population even had a high school degree

Is writting a particularly representative example of cultural production? Back in the 40's only a quarter of the adult population even had a high school degree, now nearly everyone who has the temperament and interest to write can be trained. Thanks to the internet, a nearly infinite pool of writers have the opportunity for self expression, which they clearly value. At the same time, the economic value of undifferentiated writting approaches zero. Contrast this with our current "golden age of television"--while costs are going down and quality is going up for viewers, the genuinely scarce and economically valuable skilled people who can make quality TV are being paid more. Overall the median salary for an artist today is higher than that of the average worker. You can believe that there are social issues that need to be overcome to improve the lives of people who work in and out of the arts, but it's hard to say that artists generally are living in "the worst of times" And, of course, historically a large number of writers (those who weren't aristocratic dilettantes) had day jobs totally unrelated to writting. T.S. Eliot famously continuing to work in the sub-sub-basement of a bank for 3 years after publishing The Waste Land.