[RugnirViking]

I create content, heck i'm doing it right now, without being paid. Some is relatevly low value (but not none, I can see you like to spend time reading hn comments) but some ive made has touched thousands of people and been high effort stuff. Am I crazy? am I simply irrational?

No. People will create without incentive. put multiple humans in a box and wait, and culture will spontaneously be generated. Income is not, never will be, and has never, been a nessacary part of this equation.

In general ive observed a tragic cycle of vibrant communities blossoming into existence where everyone created because they want to, people have healthy engagement with it and get primarily positive vibes. Then over time, money invades, starts paying a select few of the creators and arbitrarily excluding others with no partiuclar pattern. Bad vibes ensue, and even those paid have to run in place and burn out. Content quality suffers, becoming less about creative expression and making audience happy, and more about extracting clicks, money, ads, buy, subscribe, like