The kind folk at United States Artists released a survey claiming 96 percent of Americans “highly value art in their lives and communities,” but only 27 percent believe that “artists contribute ‘a lot’ to the good of society.”

I can believe this.

I came of age in a Seattle that loved “legacy” (old) black music, as long as it was performed by all-white bands. A Seattle whose favorite cultural genre was the foreign art film, something that came in a tin can from creators safely far away.

I now live in a Seattle that just built a huge trinity of art museums, which take little interest in local artists and even less interest in living local artists.

It’s easy for me to imagine other folk around the country taking a similar attitude of enjoying the delicious milk of culture, as long as they don’t have to don’t have to smell the cows who make it.