I agree that most so-called artists are amateurs or dilettantes, and that many wannabe artists deserve to fail. Their work just isn't good enough. But I deny that the art world is a meritocracy. There are lots of artists that deserve to succeed that fail, and lots that deserve to fail that succeed.

See, for example, Amanda Gorman's "poems" that took the world by storm at Biden's inauguration and the Super Bowl. I wrote two articles on their obvious lack of merit. That was a case of politically correct affirmative action and virtue signaling, not a societal elevation of a great poet.

https://benjamincain8.medium.com/there-was-no-poem-at-bidens-inauguration-84ac0f666f3b?sk=dee06eb8936079b35a397c4da9c801cc

https://medium.com/the-apeiron-blog/the-wonder-and-the-rarity-of-poems-644a572229f2?sk=94399ebb44fd08624f12de70a9d12698