I took this to mean that glassblowers should be paid more, especially the best ones in the world. If it was known 10+ years ago that Caltechs glassblower made

I took this to mean that glassblowers should be paid more, especially the best ones in the world. If it was known 10+ years ago that Caltechs glassblower made 300-500k a year, you can bet they wouldn't be in this situation now. The million dollar salaries for baseball players entice entire generations of kids and teens to at least "try" the sport. It keeps the good ones motivated and the few elite athletes a payout for a lifetime of work. We could argue whether this is all worth it for entertainment, but you can't argue with the compensation model, it flat out works. It attracts and retains the absolute best people in the world at that specific job.