YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most Creatives

Re:YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most... by Strom on Monday March 22, 2021 @12:39PM (#26543189)

This is such a bizarre take. You're living in San Francisco, one of the most prestigious cities in the world, and yet you're describing your situation as if you're living in Sangvor, Tajikistan.

No one in San Francisco is stuck. [1] By skipping a few of those movie tickets and buying months in advance you could get a plane ticket out of there. In plenty of places in the US there isn't even an airport, not to mention outside the US.

> I couldn’t cook much, as I didn’t have a kitchen.

You don't need a kitchen. You can just have an electric stove in your bedroom. [2]

You're right in saying that you were super lucky. Lucky to live in San Francisco.

[1] Except for the mentally ill and people with other similarly valid severe disabilities.

[2] https://static01.nyt.com/images/2019/07/19/us/0722-hkecon-pr...

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most... by JKCalhoun on Monday March 22, 2021 @12:53PM (#26543362)

You're right of course, most can leave. But in leaving you are leaving perhaps your best market (depends on what you do, but as an example, let's say you DJ). And also, by extension, you're sort of suggesting everyone making less than 6 figures leave.

I'm putting words in your mouth, I know, and I apologize. But it's the gentrification I am bringing up.

So many construction workers that repair roofs, install drywall, etc. in Silicon Valley live several hours away in Los Banos and have that crazy commute to get to where they can find employment.

Crazy world we live in.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most... by Strom on Monday March 22, 2021 @01:06PM (#26543551)

The housing policy of San Francisco definitely makes lives more difficult than it has to be.

My point is more so around realizing the wealth of opportunity. Yes not every DJ will make it in San Francisco, but as you allude to, in most places in the world zero DJs will make it.

I don't claim that life can't be challenging in/around San Francisco. I'm claiming that it's less challenging than in almost anywhere else in the world.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most... by JKCalhoun on Monday March 22, 2021 @01:13PM (#26543646)

Agree.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most... by devoutsalsa on Monday March 22, 2021 @01:11PM (#26543623)

And do where? The money I knew how to earn was in San Francisco. I didn't know how to earn a living in a much cheaper spot. Everything I knew was there. If I scraped together enough money for a plane ticket, what would I do when I got there?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:YouTube and Patreon Still Aren’t Paying the Rent for Most... by Strom on Monday March 22, 2021 @01:27PM (#26543806)

There are free government and non-profit social counseling services where people help you figure out what job you can do. There's also reddit and your friends/family for easier non-professional advice.

However, I think it's completely fine that you stayed in SF and made progress there.

As for your claim that you could earn some money in SF and not elsewhere - that's the core of my argument. My point being that San Francisco has more opportunity than pretty much anywhere else in the world. That you specifically could make money in SF, but not elsewhere.

No doubt that earning much less than plenty of other SF residents can have an emotional impact and make it look like your life isn't going so great. It's just that when you look at the US as a whole, or the world as a whole - then SF starts looking like a fountain of opportunity.

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