I reiterate my comment. Scientists and engineers get billions of dollars of other peoples' money, both private and public.
Regarding the rest of your comment, art is not the arts. The arts include theater, music, dance, etc.
Somehow, this is the only justification we can get anyone to agree on in the modern world. Should we educate kids? "Sure, as long as its STEM so they can be good taxpayers."
Come to think of it, this is also often the justification for art. Should I buy this piece? "Of course, it will gain in value"
"because it'll make me happy"
"why not just buy this lovely [painting/poem/record] instead, it'll directly give you joy"
The National Endowment for the Arts' budget is less than $200 million. Here's the approximate budgets for scientists and engineers:
* NASA: $23 billion
* NSF: $10 billion
* DARPA: $4.3 billion
* DoD: $780 billion (a lot of which goes to defense contractors and laboratories)
* The self-driving car industry has spent around $50 billion. And what have we got out of that industry that justifies that spending?
* Cryptocurrency startups are expected to get around $12 billion in funding in 2024. What have we got out of it that justifies that budget?
* Scientists got $5 billion dollars to smash around particles and play with statistics.
When it comes to funding, scientists, engineers, and tech-related endeavors have it extremely easy, and no one places the demands on the tech industry that they do on other industries.
By all means, donate to your local artist. Tech gets all of this funding because it produces tangible results, tech provides what people ask for. Piss Christ, however ... well, give money to the artist if it pleases you.
There's a sculpture park not too far away from me. It has very large metal polygons, gently rusting. It certainly fits my modern art criteria: is it ugly? Is it incomprehensible?
And then comes the question of "What do you get out of this particular bit of art?" The standard defense is "anything you like." Which sounds great until you realize that only one piece of art is ever required, the rest being superfluous. That one piece is "anything you like," which is congruent with any other piece's identical "anything you like." No need for anything else.
With these sorts of things, modern art is backing itself into a corner. It isn't surprising that people aren't eager to open their wallets.