Humans have been entertaining each other for as long as humans have been around. If piracy actually was the death blow to the music and movie (and book?) industries as corporate heads would have you believe, would people really stop creating content? Are all artists only in it for the money? The more I hear about the plague of digital piracy the less relevant it seems.

Just ask yourself, if Hollywood disappeared tomorrow, would you care?

Not likely. In 2008, average salary for a starting pitcher was $4,429,366. There are 162 games during an MLB season (not including playoffs) meaning a pitcher only makes $27,341.77 per game. Even if you assume he only gets "paid" for the games he plays (there are typically five starting pitchers on a team) then he only gets $138,417.68 per appearance.

Even the highest paid starting pitcher currently in the league only makes $23,000,000 per annum making his per appearance fee $718,750. Of course there's also performance bonuses and endorsement deals and what have you, but I don't have numbers for those.