For this thread, I'm going to have to go with Quaffler. A job should contribute to society in one way or another. I can't think of many ways professional gaming really helps people outside of charity work. Of course, if paid Let's Players can also be considered "professional" then I would say they are a nice part of society. As for this:
Wait, so professional gaming is not contributing to society? If that's the case, so is most media and art careers, hell even professional sports, wrestling etc.
Really what's the difference?
I really do not care much for sports or the media, but art is about
the only thing I am absolutely obsessed with and feel a need to defend it. Well, I want to defend realistic art. If you refer to abstract stuff like a Picasso or Pollock, then I'll agree with you. I'm also assuming that you are not referring to music, as everyone likes music, or literature, which should be an important part of everyday life, seeing as it is taught in schools. (Though I think drawing and painting should be brought into the curriculum, but to my dismay, it is not.) Anyway, here's some famous painters that have made immense contributions to society.
1. Jan van Eyck - At the beginnings of the Northern Renaissance, maybe more like the Proto-Renaissance, he imbued religious figures with such realism, that society (mostly Catholic) was filled with spiritual pride.
2. Leonardo da Vinci - One of the greatest minds ever known. For the sake of his paintings, he become arguably the first modern thinkers, invented flying machines centuries before the Wright brothers, made some of the most accurate anatomical and medical studies, and we are still studying his genius almost four centuries later.
3. Raphael - Let's just say Europe loved him so much that he was called "Divine" and his death was labelled as a martyrdom by the Pope and died as a mortal god.
4. Artemisia Gentileschi - One of the most influential women of the 17th century. Back before feminism was even a thing and women couldn't get jobs, she was able to become one of Europe's greatest painters, spreading he defiant views across the continent. When Women's Rights was brought around years after her death, she was an influential figure for the movement.
5. Jacques-Louis David - Around the years of the French Revolution, he painted monumental pieces to spread the ideas of Liberty and Freedom. He was even thrown in prison for his "propaganda" and, was exiled, and, when he died, was not allowed to be buried in France for being a "king killer".