So I'm taking this as agreement with the OP to some degree. ;)
I for one wouldn't want to do it without pay. And considering it's such thankless work, it's only worth doing if you're being paid for it.
You're kidding, right? That bit with the Uber driver in Delhi raping a passenger was extremely poorly handled, and many threads go way off topic without a single word from dang.
To be fair, it's not his fault.
He does a fine job, but no one has figured out a technological solution to the problem. Google's spent an untold amount of money to try and address this, but YouTube's comment section is still a cesspool. Other sites end up with a small army of moderators but that's expensive, doesn't scale, and someone still ends up having to babysit the site on a Saturday night.
The only reason we're not Reddit is lack of users.
The "please don't do this on HN" replies he makes should be replicated by other mods on other sites such as reddit. I bet those polite replies have done more to change the tone of HN, and delay the Eternal Septembering that's currently underway (hi redditors), than even the HN guidelines for conduct can claim credit for.
EDIT: Damnit people, stop giving me karma for this.