The thing, as Indi noted, significant income is relative. In my country, the crash of the local currency (a factor of about 20!) has led to a Professor's salary with 5 year experience to be around $300 per month (what used to be $6000). I know because I have many colleagues who stayed. I was a full Professor with over 20 years experience and a lot of additional consulting experience (with companies like Bell labs and others), so I left because I had an alternative ... A monthly salary of $50 to $100 dollars is now typical in Lebanon for the relatively lucky few who have kept a job. There are many excellent Lebanese writers and I'm sure they could have enriched the Medium experience with their writing.