Is it really so cognitively dissonant? We buy into Wall Street every day. Even the most green, organic, anti-vaxxer out there has a bank account. Or a credit card. Or a loan of some sort. A 401(k)? Sure, right now you might not literally have-a-job-there-work-at-it, but you & your money already feed Wall Street every day.
Certainly doesn't undo my point. If you're honest with yourself, how is working for Wall Street any more off-putting than what you already do? Might as well get paid well while you're doing it. I mean, Wall Street's living off of you - might as well as not live off of them, eh? I just don't have very much tolerance for "sticking to one's artistic morals and refusing to work for the Man" when hey, you already work for the man, and b, all that really means is feeling proud of yourself for getting paid a pittance without sick time off, health insurance, or 10 federal holidays a year.
No, you're right. While I admire people who live by their principles, I don't pity starving artists. (I'll just buy some art.) My lack of pity probably stems from the fact that Baltimore is so goddamn filled with them.. By not collecting a paycheck, there's a very plausible deniability that helps assuage cognitive dissonance. And I have a rather comforting amount of plausible deniability that I'd be trading in. I don't think I'll be too hard on myself but I don't know if that's a rationalization or a reasonable conclusion.I just don't have very much tolerance for "sticking to one's artistic morals and refusing to work for the Man" when hey, you already work for the man, and b, all that really means is feeling proud of yourself for getting paid a pittance without sick time off, health insurance, or 10 federal holidays a year.