Too true

The Appendix of Discourse on Inequality contains the most striking remarks of the entire essay. Roughly halfway through, Rousseau points out how workers in the field of agriculture would find themselves being monetarily rewarded within the spectrum of the poorest of mankind, and that such a happening would result from the fact that agricultural productivity is among the most universally useful activities from which mankind benefits. As opposed to agricultural production, Rousseau claims that those who produce mechanical and liberal works of art would benefit highly, or at least vastly more than farmers and those who create art, or innovate in ways that could be socially important on a universal level and, perhaps, revolutionary on account of practicality.
This unfortunate result would be borne of the superfluous decadence of a society in which the rulers, or most powerful, benefit from the population living overindulgent lives of distraction and physical gratification. Such an array of superfluities would include letters and commerce at-large, whereby industry flourishes even further on account of people's high-level consumption of luxurious items in general, books, and various items and services that are not essential to survival. As an amendment to the earlier remarks regarding agriculture, the farmers would not necessarily be poor, but the price of produce itself would be "proportionate to the abilities of the poorest of mankind," whereby the poorest would be able to obtain produce on a bare minimum level for survival. On account of such a scenario, the lucrativeness of agriculture would decrease in a manner that would dissuade most people from seriously pursuing it. Instead, people would be more inclined to produce creative or commercial art that is not essential, but highly valued by a conceivably depraved population that has become excessively steeped in luxury and base superficiality.
The primary reason that Rousseau's remarks on these matters stands out so prominently is due to the current cultural and socioeconomic state of America. Our society has certainly manifested Rousseau's words pertaining to the diminishing of agricultural allure from a professional level, and America highly values arts and forms of entertainment such as movies, sporting events, etc., that are profoundly superfluous and devoid of enlightening, truthful, and revolutionary insights that could undermine the current economic and political establishment. He further adds that these excesses lead to both the enrichment and ruination of nations. That is, while certain industries laugh all the way to the bank and prosper, the people are in fact not generally reaching their maximum potential as human beings. Rather, they are economically exploited far more than built up; for being stifled by materialism and saturation with media and luxuries expands and maintains the power and wealth of those in charge of the various industries. Rousseau's closing remark, "From this we may learn what to think of the real advantages of industry and the actual effects of its progress," echoes far too resoundingly with the socioeconomic state of America, insofar as progress certainly does seem limited almost entirely to very few people who are in control of industries that primarily exploit and take advantage of people, rather than promote the overall betterment of the lives of citizens that have made their prosperity possible just as much, if not more, than their own cleverness or industriousness.