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Until we start viewing "fanciful" ideas as realistic, our problems will persist. This article is another in the long series of observations of seemingly distinct problems which are actually facets of a larger problem, namely that overall economic inequality is way too high.I actually read the article before going into the comment section, and your comment was surprising and baffling by how detached from the content of the post it was.
There are plenty of exploitation arguments made in it, but if you read the article is income inequality one of them? Well, no.
> It's not just that musicians, or actors, or grocery store baggers, or taxi drivers, or whatever, can't make a living, it's that the set of things you can do to make a living is narrowing more and more.
I think that this conclusion is far-fetched if your starting point is the actual article. The music business is notorious for being virtually impossible to make a living, even if you are an international act. There were plenty of examples from decades ago up until now of musicians from popular international bands with packed international tours not being able to afford to quit their day job to make ends meet. If your income comes from selling tickets to the public, sometimes directly, and you still cannot generate a livable income, the problem is not income inequality. The problem is that there is not enough demand for what you're selling to make it a viable business.
I mean, if your primary source of income is playing shows and not enough people want to spend money to attend them, why do you think the fact that some people earn way more than you is even relevant?
> Broad-based solutions like basic income, wealth taxes, breaking up large market players, etc., will do far more for us than attempting piecemeal tweaks to this or that industry.
Here is a though experiment: does your assertion hold valid if you replace "store baggers" and "taxi drivers" with "contortionists" or "jugglers"? Because while "store baggers" and "taxi drivers" aren't exactly activities associated with upper middle class income levels, they are activities that most people are coerced to have because they have no alternative to make a living. Musicians are another story altogether, and associated with people pursuing their dreams. In fact, there is that age old cliche about third generation wealth being artists and academics because their exceptional wealth allowed them to pursue their dreams.