Once More, With Feeling

Question:
I am: a) retired, b) bored, c) unemployed, and I'm looking to work from home! I've used Photoshop for years!
Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to: a) start my own business, b) make extra money

Answer:
Photo restoration!! It's so easy, even an anencephalic monkey can do it! You have everything you need! Photoshop! Good luck! :-)

Yes!
NO!!

I don't mean to keep beating the proverbial dead horse, I really don't, but come on! Maybe, just maybe, deep down inside I'm thinking if I throw enough...er...mud at the wall, some will stick. I am so sick of seeing the above exchange, or some variation on the theme, I can't even coherently express it! I see it on Twitter, I see it on forums, in fact, I see it on forums where people, and from people, who ought to know better!

I have photoshop, I think I'll start a photo restoration business!
I have a camera, I think I'll start a photography business!
I have a calculator, I think I'll be an accountant!

The thing that really irks me, in this huge, abysmal, sea of irkiness, is the hypocrisy of it all. On a forum I occasionally attend, there are, once in a while, posts from people wanting to be photographers and, maybe, even setting up shop to that end. They ask for advice and critiques and the responders are harsh! Hard! Brutal! They tell it like it is! They tell the original poster (OP) that they need to improve their skills, work towards the goal, not just jump in and proclaim “I'm a photographer!” Why? Because they have a concern not only for the sensibilities of the OP, because who, other than a total sadist, would enjoy another persons humiliation when his or her work gets blasted into eternity, but also, perhaps even more so, they're concerned for their industry, their craft, their art, and don't want an amateur with a pretty camera and no skills or even a clue, to reflect on that industry! When one takes pride in ones art, one wants that art held to the same exacting standard one expects of oneself, yes? Yes! Of course! An artist strives to be the best among the best! You want the gene pool, as it were, to be constantly evolving, growing, improving! Survival of the fittest! The law of the jungle! Anyone who strives to become the best by encouraging mediocrity from those around him is, to put it nicely, a hack. A fraud. Not to mention a coward. Not an artist. How then, do these same people who encourage a photographer to improve and grow before venturing into the professional arena, justify the irresponsible flinging out of photo restoration to the four winds? Is photo restoration the chia-pet of the artistic community, or what?! Perhaps they just don't give it the credibility and respect of being a true art form? Perhaps they don't see any artistry involved? Perhaps they believe they have a true gift, a true skill, while photo restoration is only the push or manipulation of a pixel here and there? Maybe Santa comes on the 4th of July and lays Easter eggs for their birthday cake? Let me remind them, if they do, indeed, think this way, of the time when “real” photographers (film) treated digital photography as an artistic pariah. Of the way Photoshop, itself, was thought of. Not a true art form? Not a real skill? No true artistry involved? All that and more. The fight that digital artists have had to fight, and still do fight to some extent, for legitimacy, validation, respect, and recognition as a true art form has come so very far in a relatively short time. So what gives anyone the right, especially those who have fought this battle, to treat photo restoration as any less an art form? It's my art. I've paid my dues! I've put in my time! I'm still paying! I resent my art being bandied about as the ~make money at home in your spare time, whether you have talent or not, off the cuff, quick fix~ for every inquiring mind who wants to know! Imagine the righteous indignation that would abound if the conversation went like this:

Question:
I am: a) retired, b) bored, c) unemployed, and I'm looking to work from home! I've had a camera for years!
Does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to: a) start my own business, b) make extra money

Answer:
Professional Photography!!

Some how, I think the noise would raise a few decibel levels...

Post Script: I chose photography to make my point, as the forum posts I was thinking of dealt specifically with that art, but it could easily be replaced with graphic designer, web designer, musician, any artistic medium in fact. While the example was specific, the focus intended is more generic.