In my instance

In my instance, I DO have my own websites and have for several years.  Likewise, I have a Yahoo forum I have owned and managed for over 6 years.  In addition, I am a writer for several alternative health venues - suc as Natural News, the Health Science Institute's healthiertalk.com, the Crusador online,  Alignlife, etc. I also have two major book projects in the works and a third in the initial stages as well as a major website project in the works.

And I contribute to other forums such as Mercola's and Natural News as well as Facebook.  So yes, I do have a life outside CZ, though sometimes there is a good question of how much of one I have away from this dang cyber umbilical cord attached to my computer.

I have been here and have remained here primarily to help and learn from the very start.  Revenue has always been a distant second for me over helping and learning.  And I have learned very much here, have tried to help very much here and have also made some very valuable friendships here.  THAT is why it is important to me to try to have CZ be a healthy and happy home for myself and all the other members who truly care about the site - and that is why I am likely to spring to the WM's, site's and other members' defense when I see them threatened.

Now, the party in question in this debate also has his own website and his own forum.  At one poijnt, after being banned from multiple forums, having multiple TOS-violating posts removed and having been called down in his own forum by the WM, he left in a huff and retreated to his own forum.  That did not last very long and it is notable that private sites and just about any other site similar to CZ do not have the ability to both offer private forums and generate large amounts of traffic.

I would not be so crass as to suggest that helping others did not play a role in his return, as I am sure that was a consideration.  However, I will note that when selling is a priority as well as when being in the spotlite is a priority, then it is very, very difficult to leave the bright lights of CZ.

I would opine that some people do not seem to realize that they need CZ a lot more than CZ needs them.