Communist? Are you sure you're not playing Dwarf Kremlin?
It's very clearly, if theoretically at this point in time, defined as a feudal society (there's a clear progression from baron to king). That's without question. So no, your argument is invalid, and considerably more "convenient" than anything I've come up with.
So, since you still haven't defined them as "not slaves", I stand by my opinion that it would be interesting for our dwarfs to have their own separate adventures, both apart from, and outside of, the Fortress, and our governing of it. I feel that would be entirely within the spirit of the game, as opposed to communism.
I don't want easy skilled workers. I never said I did. I wouldn't be opposed to the existence of some kind of work pool to draw from, in the game, so that we had some limited control over migrations.
I want the process that turns them from unskilled yokels to master craftsdwarfs to be more interesting. Grinding is an institution-an oppressive and ubiquitous one-in video games.
DF can do better.
Enjoyment of art doesn't denote potential for excellence--that's why we're burdened with critics, after all. However, passion should be a requisite for upper echelons of achievement.
Monet, by the way, probably had quite a few supplementary skills: As the son of a grocer in the 19th century (his father wanted him to take over the business), he could very well have known how to make soap. As a passionate gardener and ameture botanist, he certainly knew how to grow his own food.
Michaelangelo, for that matter, was not only a sculpter and a painter, he was also a poet, an architect, and an engineer.