Lemmy is like a public library of the internet: it's one of the few places where you can exist without the expectation of paying either through watching ads or through direct payments
In my city/county, you get a free card if you can prove you live here (show something with your address)
Our system will also do fundraisers to supplement the budget from taxes. We almost lost some libraries a gew years ago, but voters remade the local government and they are safer now.
I'm not suggesting to pay one euro each month, I'm suggesting that you treat your lemmy instance as a 12 euro per year subscription. Compared to literally every other service it is basically free.