a lot of advice for artists makes a lot more sense if you mentally add “if they want to survive under capitalism” at the end

like: “a writer should read as many novels as possible (if they want to survive under capitalism)”

now it’s not about the relationship that an artist “should” have with their art - it’s about the sacrifices that they need to make as people if they want to turn making art into their capitalism survival skill

there is no wrong way to make art, but the ice cold truth is that there are many wrong ways to survive under capitalism