Your last paragraph raises an important point about how people's personal situations play into this issue. It's a lot easier for me to keep writing as an unpaid hobby, because when I started I was working full time, and even though I'm currently not, that's also at least partly by my choice (because I, too, have a convenient husband paying the bills). I certainly don't judge people for pursing profit, especially in a capitalist society where, as you say, money can also be a sort of validation as well as being useful for things like eating. If my economic situation changed, my attitude toward writing as a commercial endeavor might change, too.

But yeah, I wonder if ultimately not many people go into creative fields to get rich, because it's just so rare for that to work out. I see a similar dynamic in librarianship, too, and in the non-profit world where I currently work. Many of my colleagues could be making more in industry, but they choose to do work in academia and/or research because it's meaningful to them.