I'm going to have to think that one over and get back to you.
It's literally the same model as, for example, the Royal Shakespeare Company under first Queen Elizabeth I and then King James thereafter. The troupe was paid a regular stipend to survive on while they created and performed plays. The only real difference here is you won't get executed for slacking off (despite how much sometimes people might wish that upon a lazy or dishonest dev).
I don't understand why this is a difficult concept for people to get. If you don't support
the developer in the process of working on various projects, don't subscribe. Other than perhaps a dev to themselves (a dev's word, if it's worth something) and wanting to avoid pissing patrons off and to build a steady community and name for oneself over time, there is no actual commitment on the part of the dev. If you dislike the model, don't participate in it. This really isn't rocket science.