Lifers, Dayjobbers, and the Independently Wealthy: A Letter to a Former Student
Nice essay, but some of the contemporary examples in this paragraph about the independenlty wealthy are not really that compelling:<p><i>I’m not saying wealthy people can’t make incredible artists. Without Marcel Duchamp’s monthly allowance from his father throughout his adult life, we would never have Dada. Giacinto Scelsi was literally the heir and Duke of La Spezia castle estate. Something more contemporary? Grimes’ mother was a Crown Prosecutor, the Canadian equivalent of a District Attorney, in Vancouver. Frankie Cosmos’ dad is the guy from Wild Wild West, no, not Will Smith, the other guy. Julian Casablancas’ father ran New York’s top super modeling agency while young Julian hung out at the kid’s table with Ivanka Trump at Christmas time. The list goes on.</i><p>The argument is supposed to be that these kids didn&#x27;t have to worry about paying the rent, so they were able to devote more time to their craft. But I don&#x27;t think some of the contemporary examples listed were necessarily like that.<p>Take Grimes -- a Crown Prosecutor is a public servant, so you can look up their average pay ranges: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www2.gov.bc.ca&#x2F;gov&#x2F;content&#x2F;careers-myhr&#x2F;all-employees&#x2F;pay-benefits&#x2F;salaries&#x2F;salarylookuptool&#x2F;legal-judiciary&#x2F;crown-counsel-level-3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www2.gov.bc.ca&#x2F;gov&#x2F;content&#x2F;careers-myhr&#x2F;all-employee...</a> . That&#x27;s definitely a solid middle class life, but not exactly generational wealth. Now, compared to a poor kid who has to take on jobs in high school to support their family, I&#x27;m sure she had more time and less stress in her teenage years which let her practice more, but there are lots and lots of middle class children who have that level of free time which they devote to all sorts of extracurriculars.<p>Moreover, Grimes, Casablancas, and Cosmos blew up when they were in their very early 20s: Cosmos released her debut studio album at 20, Grimes at 22, Casablancas at 23. So, despite any family wealth they may have had, it&#x27;s not like they spent years and years of their adult lives living off their parents&#x27; support, or at least not any more so than hundreds of thousands of college students do every year. Of course, they had it easier than kids who cannot even afford to go to college, or who are working 20 hours a week to pay their way, but I&#x27;m not sure it&#x27;s at all comparable to Duchamp or Scelsi.<p>Maybe there&#x27;s an argument that social connections helped them to get their record deals, but the argument presented doesn&#x27;t seem to apply.