Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
Let me introduce you to the at least three thousand year old distinction between "property" and "labor." Labor is something you do. Property is something you own. People will pay you for either. If you do labor, people will pay you for the labor, and not pay you if you don't do the labor. If you own property, people will pay you to use the property, and not pay you if they can't use the property.
Works of art aren't unique in being property - people who own stocks can make money from the stocks and pass them on to their kids. Business owners can pass businesses on to their kids. Landlords can pass their properties on to their kids. Etc.
Bill Gates founded a very successful company when he was very young; as a consequence of that, his descendants for the next several generations may not need to work. That's how property works (and if he hadn't given away 40% of his net worth, he probably could have gotten a few more generations out of it.)
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Most of the time, creating property entails that you invest money to do it; sometimes a lot of money, and that money will be at risk, more often than not.
Writing a book nowadays costs only time, and after you're done, you can drop it onto the market through self-publishing. No risk at all; the only thing you need is a bit of luck (and maybe some promotion) so that it becomes a hit.
Nowadays, the arts are one of the easiest ways to create property with regard to risk and investments. The only reason why so few people are doing that is because it's not guaranteed to sell. Labor *always* sells, because other people ask you to do something. In the arts, you do something and then try to convice others to pay for it.