A challenge to artists: when you have your next exhibit, request a notice be posted stating that a percentage of the artist's net income from sales will be donated to charities and foundations for the benefit of society. Such charities can be for aid to sick or indigent elder artists, food banks, health foundations, animal rights and health organizations, reading programs for children and adults, environmental organizations, etc. If you can't afford this, let your patrons know you will be volunteering for a service organization on a regular basis.
By doing this, you send a message: artists are not doing what they do for money. They are doing it because they care about the world they live in and the world they want to leave behind. It is their Art with which they aspire to change the status quo for the better. Take Materialism out of the process. Disarm the corporate-business model, the one that promotes celebrity and wealth at the expense of ideas and social welfare.
Such an action could have a ripple effect. Collectors could also match the donation of the artist, on the spot, and double the contribution to those worthy causes. And, self-interest is not likely to suffer: tax- deductions for everyone.
Artists should live their Art. That's the ethical and moral imperative.