Leon Wieseltier on Immiseration of Writers

TNR – Washington Diarist: The New Proles:

“Lately, however, I have been observing a high incidence of indecent poverty. Many young writers and journalists I meet are close to penniless. They have almost not a hope of supporting themselves in the pursuit of their calling. A garret is no longer affordable. Jobs are disappearing. Internships are unpaid or barely paid, which has the consequence of corrupting a meritocratic system with the inequities of social class, as the fortunately born become the fortunately hired. And when they publish what they write–well, now we leave the honorable tradition of the struggling young writer for the unprecedented enchantments of the digital revolution.”