I long for the long lost time when research was less of an industry. If you read 19th and early 20th research, it comes of from an alien world. You had to be curious about your subject and smart back then.
I was amazed to read about W.E.B DuBois and his scientific work documenting the effect of systemic racism back in the 1900s in Philadelphia and that it leads to disparate health outcomes. There was a show on PBS that referenced it with respect to covid disparities among minorities showing that Dr. DuBois was way ahead of his time. In fact, we, as a society, still haven't learned anything more than 100 years later!
You also had to have substantial personal resources to do research, at least in the 19th century. Going back to that system would probably reduce the number of people doing science for the wrong reasons, but it would also strongly reduce the number of people doing science at all.
I mean, it's well within possibility for you to spend 20 years as SWE earning six figures, and then retire early to be an independent researcher.
As long as you are happy to explore a field that doesn't require millions of dollars of equipment and aren't competing for fame, there's nothing stopping you.