I agree fully. One factor of being an artist though, is that through the ages there isn't much difference between being a starving artist, and a starving artist

I agree fully. One factor of being an artist though, is that through the ages there isn't much difference between being a starving artist, and a starving artist. The Arts (with a capital A), rarely get a very large slice of the pie, and the artists even less of that pie generally. It really has only been in the past century (or less) that artists have been able to accumulate great wealth for the most part. There are notable exceptions, but the idea of "art" being big business-- with non-artists pushing the business side-- is a pretty recent development. We can't automate away the arts (yet) but it may not be a great solution for making enough to feed a family of 4. It will likely always be hard to be an artist.