Tyler Cowen of Marginal Revolution posts the following letter from Lisa G. of Pittsburgh, PA received by Marilyn Vos Savant ("the highest IQ in the world"):

Many of my friends and I are intelligent, liberal-arts graduate who, due to an economic system that glorifies science, medicine, business, and law, are toiling as secretaries and retail clerks. Is there any hope for the philosopher, writer, dancer, poet or sculptor to find paying work in Western society? Or are we doomed to relegate our talents to hobbies while working in drudgery until we die, just to pay the bills?

Cowen does a great job of manhandling our poor inquirer on the economic front (name a society besides Western society where cultural producers  get paid SO MUCH and are AS FREE?).   I recommend reading his response and, for that matter recommend his blog in general as excellent socio-economic brainfood.

What I want to point out in the letter is something that's a frequent topic on my blog - the weird assumption that the Lisa G's of the world have that the rules of the economic system are somehow a purely artificial construct of Western Society.   In their minds, it's a pure, arbitrary design choice by the power holders that science, medicine, business, and law are so well compensated (well, I might have some sympathy with them w.r.t. the legal profession ). 

Folks like myself and many on the blogosphere - who have actually engaged in the market and tried to build something of value within it's confines - are acutely aware that the economic system is a complex, varied, and, in the end, a masterless beast.  The emergent laws of supply & demand are as timeless and universal as the discovered laws of gravity & electricity.  Lisa G has a hard time grasping that something as complex as the Western Economic System can spontaneously arise in a decentralized manner

Science pays well not only because it is hard but also because its advancement pushes society forward in a measured, predictable manner.   (Most sculpture out there is crap and is far from measurable or predictable in its future value to society).   The measure of the predicted, future value that a scientist will create is his salary just as the predicted, future value of an artist is his advance or commission.  What the hell are liberal arts students learning if not economics?