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](http://www.steemit.com), 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](https://meta.stackoverflow.com/questions/329768/is-the-future-of-qa-sites-like-se-in-the-blockchain?noredirect=1#comment374045_329768) 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.