Knowing that some of the members here were former Patreons, I want to apologize in advance if what I'm going to say may offend anyone, thas is not my intent, but this is the main question that has been puzzling me for a long time now, even before I found this forum. My question is: why on earth would anyone send their money - not to mention expensive gifts - to perfect strangers who thought it could be a great idea to buy crumbling castles or manor houses in France, but didn't have enough money to restore them or keep them? If you have the money to buy them in the first place, then you should also make sure you have the money to restore them. If not, just don't, instead of begging around. It's not a vital priority after all.
You want a castle in your life to show that you are a rich castle owner in France? Then don't rely on strangers' money. As far as I know, Patreon is a form of funding interesting projects in return for some advantages, like being part of that project, getting something that's been produced etc. But just getting back some videos where you can watch things that you can already watch on thousands of videos on YT seems silly to me. Is it because in this way the Patreons have the impression that they too own a part of those castles and this makes them feel important and gives them some form of emotion? I can't really understand. YT is brimming with milions of wonderful videos on wonderful things, like culture, literature, history, art, entertainment, movies, science, discoveries, you name it. Why should you shove your money on pretentious wannabe people you don't even know? I can understand Patreon projects where you help new talents or artists or inventors with their ideas, but this... And, if there weren't things like Patreons, or buy-me-a-coffee or the likes, we wouldn't have people like SJ and her gang, but also like many others, who, like her, lack dignity and self-respect.
I also think that it is somehow sad, if not hilarious that people have the pretence of seeing the truth, their real life, to hear them speak the truth etc. Our entire society is based on make-believe, on appearance, on lies, on fake news thanks to the mass media and virtual reality. Everything can be altered. Our entire society is based on smoke and mirrors. Why should they be the exception? If you want reality, if you want a truthful relationship with people, just get away from YT, from your smartphones and talk to real people in your family, in your neighbourhood, with your friends, at work, in shops or in the streets. That is real.
P.S. I have never been a subscriber to any of these channels. If I want to watch them, I just look for them. And I use a device that allows me to erase all the ads, so that not a penny of YT revenues goes to them.