Artist in society

Many of Artists are out on the street in these hard economic times and I am curious if you think the Arts are even necessary today. Are our times too dire for the Artist mentality and only hard work and labor matters? We should ask to try to help these artists position their Arts background against what can be an unforgiving "business first" mentality on the street. Few people realize the life of the Artist is unforgiving and hard: Most work 18 hours a day 7 days a week with zero vacations and no days off.
Many are hooked into their destiny of trying to bring context to the world -- and so they earn the endless days and barter the early graves. Art creates the standards for perception and cognition for a society. Without great Art, there are no great ideas and a lesser community. The entertainment business usually does well in times of economic crises as people flee their everyday covenants in search of release and fantasy. I wish there were more inherent value placed on the non-commodity Artist by the business community. If you don't have immediate perceived value -- you are not considered, or accepted -- as a necessary part of the economic sanctity of the populace.