The reason that the quality on Reddit is higher is because there’s people moderating those quality subreddits. Without those moderators it would all turn to crap and be just as useless as Google.
(This isn't an argument against your point, just a bit of additional context that increasingly is odd to me as Reddit gains more and more social weight)
Very true. Fortunately I don't think most moderators want to see their community destroyed. That's exactly what would happen if they started taking money. As a group, people will catch on fast and either force the moderator to step down or just leave for a new subreddit.
