Removing monitization is as good as deletion for the content creators. Furthermore, their "appeals" process tends to be a black hole, as is basically everything at google that would require human intervention.
Even without monetization, the community/discoverability benefits of YT have to be appealing. As much distaste as I have for Google, the ability to find a plurality (at least) of the content related to my area of interest in one place is quite appealing.
- We will stop giving you money
- We will force you to stop by delete the channel
I guess it can feel the same for many creators and be the same thing when communicating on twitter. (No sarcasm intended)