The writers you cite are not writers. They are selling something. I doubt their income comes from writing on Medium but selling the dream of making money on Medium. (Just a guess.)

My experience in business is that the more complicated you make it, the less people will play. It is straightforward now. $5 a month. It gets taken out of my PayPal account once a month. I know how much money I have to have there and it is always going to be $5.

People write for different reasons and read for different reasons. YouTube revenue is from advertisers. The Medium vision aimed to make this a place for writers and readers. If the "best writers" are not getting the rewards they feel they deserve, there are all kinds of publications in the real world that pay writers, and some pay pretty darn good. You just have to learn a new set of rules.