Composers: Strangest of the strange?

More musical musings, because it's that kind of week:

This past week, I'm proud to report that I sparked a curious article by Randy Nordschaw on Newmusicbox.org. In response to an article by Colin Holter, I pointed out that the musical realms of, say, Arvo Part and Britney Spears are both necessarily and thankfully seperate. Randy counterattacked my clear "separitist" attitudes, to which I simply replied: "if it's really all the same, or SHOULD be the same, then sell this site to Rolling Stone Magazine and be done with it."

That being said, I spend a lot of time on this blog defending new music, though I will this time take a different approach. This week has taught me something:

Composers are a scared, insecure, and frequently unpleasant bunch of people. At least those that haven't "made it."

I include myself in that "unmade" mix. Faced with a society largely indifferent to the best of our efforts, we tend to develop curious defense mechanisms.

I think most composers fit into the following categories:

1.) The less-than-1% making a living off their music. Generally few axes to grind.
2.) The "who cares if you listen?" bunch.
3.) The elite non-elitists, like the guy who kept attacking me for a suppossed elitist attitude, missing the point that he was an elitist himself, and that the very idea of an internet forum on new music discussing elitism is in itself... ELITIST. (phew.)
4.) The "pleasantly-elite," "I have refined taste and can help you with yours" type. I admit membership in this category.
5.) The hopelessly insecure type who will list-off their self-righteously eclectic ipod listening lists and talk about how the Gamelan has affected their piano writing, helping liberate it from a restricting classicism/modernism/whatever-ism.
6.) The "what process did you use to generate your pitch material?" type (my least favorite.)

and, lastly, the
7.) "I hate being poor. Fuck it, let's sell insurance and just ruminate about music on message-boards" type -- this is the category I'm viciously trying to avoid drifting in to.

To be fair, I've probably missed a few categories, and many creative-types straddle more than a few of these. I think you get the point.

I love new music. I love composers. I'm starting to think, however, that somewhere along the line, we got a LOT of it going in an aimless and self-defeating direction. What think YOU, composer and musician types?