The point of my argument is that SO was built to create a better source of reliable information 1st and make money 2nd, while it always appeared (at least to me) that EE was built to make money 1st and it's usefulness always seemed like a secondary priority (again this is just my opinion).
I said that EE paid people for answers, I never mentioned cash. SO has only every used earned reputation (as a form of gamification) to entice users to answer questions.
A big difference between EE and SO that is not being talked about is the fact the EE used to pay people for answers. There was a practice of monetization from the very beginning. SO has never attempted to pay people for their answers (in fact they have been vehemently against it). While I agree that you cannot make a supposition that since the site has not tried to capitalize on it's user base that it will forever continue to be the same, I have seen no evidence that there are changes afoot. I think that people are putting the semi-colon before the code block here.
The fact of the matter is that at any time, any site that we know and love can change or go away forever. Jeff and Joel have built something that is great. They have put everything in place to try and prevent their gift from being twisted into evil. These preventative measures are the largest difference between EE and SO, and they should be applauded for their efforts and contributions not maliciously attacked by some guy who is paranoid about the actions of a community that he plainly states he is not a contributing member of.