@General Lighting 484466 wrote:

… but don’t forget there is a very strong puritan/conservative element in the USA with real power.

Every 4th July I have a private celebration called “Thank God the Puritans have left”.

On topic; hey, being an artist is about creating art (performance/audio/visual/sculpture/architecture) and being rewarded for it. If big artists get big perks, fair play to them.

“You don’t ask, you don’t get.” Usually. If we all developed telepathy (or at least empathy) skills then it might not be such an issue.