And if you want to get into social change lets talk about...
CMV: Art is practically useless, especially in the area of politics/making the world a better place.
Good tv, movies, music, etc has been getting us through this horrible pandemic. What would we be doing without those things just staring at the wall? Even in better times people enjoy going to concerts, museums, theater, etc. That hardly seems pointless if it makes people happy. People go to places like Paris or Rome specifically to look at art. I think the tourist money getting pumped into those economies has a point. And if you want to get into social change lets talk about Uncle Tom's Cabin. I'm sure you've heard Harrier Beecher Stowe being called by Lincoln the "little lady that started the big war" (paraphrasing) but did you know that Anna Leonowens aka Anna Lyons aka Anna from Anna and the King also read it? She read it and found it abhorrent that anyone would own slaves and then it occured to her that she was teaching the future king of Siam and she taught him that slavery was cruel and inhumane so when he took the throne he also hated slavery. The chain reaction to art did make a difference.