Minding the existing answers, I would like to point out that in a perhaps not so remote future, sites that rely on voluntary contributions and reputation like this one could be monetised in such a way that rancho and other can earn money from their reputation.

How? The answer lays in the blockchain!

In fact, you might have heard of Steem.it, a "social network" where you earn digital money from writing and moderating. The more you contribute and vote, the more you earn. It is not really a Q&A forum but in principle the dynamic could be applied to a Q&A setting.

I made a related question in the Meta of SE which sadly received little attention/interest, probably because of the strong feelings against the idea.

Now, this is just a thought-provoking idea. Personally, I prefer it as it is now, but so many things have become monetized against people's will.

Minding the existing answers, I would like to point out that in a perhaps not so remote future, sites that rely on voluntary contributions and reputation like this one could be monetised in such a way that rancho and other can earn money from their reputation.

How? The answer lays in the blockchain!

In fact, you might have heard of Steem.it, a "social network" where you earn digital money from writing and moderating. The more you contribute and vote, the more you earn. It is not really a Q&A forum but in principle the dynamic could be applied to a Q&A setting.

I made a related question in the Meta of SE which sadly received little attention/interest, probably because of the strong feelings against the idea.

Now, this is just a thought-provoking idea. Personally, I prefer it as it is now, but so many things have become monetized against people's will.