Do you have examples, specifically when a subreddit went dark in protest and Reddit replaced the mods?
I have heard of cases where essentially a mod went on a power trip/tantrum and wanted to shut down a subreddit, but that behavior specifically angered the vast majority of subscribers to that subreddit. I think the optics and reality of that are very different from a subreddit shutting down to protest the API changes (in some cases, subreddits held polls).
That's like immigrant jobs: You can take them away but there aren't hoards of passionate volunteers chomping at the bit to replace them.
The day to day is mostly deciding whether borderline comments should be removed and whether a post contains too much self-promotion.
I like Internet communities and am willing to volunteer some time to help some be more successful.
If this was even 1 year ago, things would be different. But it's not.
(I moderate a major subreddit)
There is something wrong with me that in the 90-9-1 rule, I need to be the 1%. I see a forum, and I can't stop myself from commenting or posting. Getting invited to moderate happens naturally after that.
I wish I was the 90%.
A permanent closure of a popular sub is 100% going to lead to Reddit declaring the sub abandoned, replacing the mod team, and reopening. Has happened many times before. Not sure if programminghumor in particular meets that popularity threshold though.