very interesting discussion! btw I edited my original post.. I now don't think my challenge to your orignal post was appropriate.

In response to your points here:

I do think there is an important way that available fund will remain zero sum. there are only so many eyeball-hours-per-day available on earth. it is 24 * the present population. So that is the available money and it is zero sum.

That said, there is a lot of room for new economic models to get a greater fraction of that money to the creators. I agree with that.

Several other points of agreement:

-- Many jobs are soul crushing, and being part of the creator economy is often uplifting by comparison.

-- Especially if you are in a position to live in Chang-Mai (beautiful place) while your patrons are in a richer economy, then the chances that you can make the creator economy work for you are multiplied a hundred fold. (FYI. I have travelled there... it seemed a great place for a 20-something to hang for a bit, or an eccentric sort to make their life-long home. but for many in America, I kinda got the sense that they would want to come back after some years, and have a life that they could afford here.)

-- Many forces in the creator economy are democratizing that economy such that the median provided is now much much closer to the average it provides. (supporting your idea that modest income is much more widely avaialble.)

Indeed your phrase: "Third world workers that once earned a few bucks an hour are finding lucrative deals" seem VERY accurate. I think it is a dramatic shift that goes beyond the creator economy. (I own a business that employs international talent, and their ability to earn good money is going thru the roof)

Still I don't like your focus on the teenager building multi-million dollar businesses in their bedroom. It does happen, but is a a very very rare thing. so rare, it is mostly a point of mis-information to put it out there as a role model.

you end telling me to check out some sites showing thousands are succeeding. And I agree with this conclusion. As long as we agree that succeeding is dodging the soul sucking which many jobs represent, and if succeeding for most is providing enough cash to support oneself (without family) in a modest local.

I think supporting a family in the first world urban city on a creator's income requires being a 1%-er and a lucky one at that.

very interesting discussion!

(by the way, I am a tech entrepreneur... very interested in Web 3.0... so if you see the way of the future... I would love to hear it!)