I tend to draw a strong distinction between "I would not pay for that" and "Nobody should ever get paid for that". If it isn't your own entertainment dollar, why should you care who gets it? If someone else wants to pay a DM, who are we to say otherwise?
I can't speak for the others, but I can speak for me. I said "DMing isn't a job", while I was probably more thinking it
shouldn't be considered as a job in the first place, even if you possibly could get paid for it. Indeed, why not, that's ultimately a question of demand.
I'm very wary of the idea that DMing is hard, it's a job that requires a lot of personal investment etc. What I don't like is DMs whining about DMing. Somebody doesn't like DMing? You don't DM. You don't like the prep time for D&D? You find other ways to organize yourself, play another RPG or stop DMing.
I like DMing. Stop. Let me rephrase that: I love DMing. This isn't a job to me. This is my hobby, my craft, my passion. As a passion, I embrace every aspect of it, including prep time, painting minis, setting up the table, cleaning up the place before people come, etc. If I need help, I explain the situation to the guests and ask them for a hand before I start bitching about it. I always get some help when I ask for it. If not for a question of friendship, it's simply a question of caring, understanding and simple politeness.
So here we go. I absolutely agree that I am going straight for what I think are the motivations behind such a thread. "How much you'd get paid for DMing?" means to me "how much is DMing worth?" because you'd have some problem about your own worth or your time's worth, or demonstrating it to your players "who are not giving back anything to you". My answer to that is that I love DMing, I do it for myself
and for my friends to have a good time. I'm doing it voluntarily, and I like it. DMing for me is priceless
precisely because I love it, and I love RPGs. When I play, I respect the DM, the time s/he invested in the preparation of the game and the patience/time invested in running the game.
If I have issues with my friends, I discuss with them and try to find out how we can solve the situation. That works every time. I'm lucky I guess, but the bitching and complaining of DMs at players just doesn't lead anywhere to me.