I've been here a while, and have read some really good and some really atrocious stuff. I've also seen a lot, a whole lot, of people come and go.

I stick around because it's fun to have an audience, interact, improve my writing proficiency, and I've made some decent money on a few of my more successful posts. And btw, I don't care that much for the big, elite publications you mentioned. Mags like Atlantic used to be great, but they've taken a nosedive in recent history. They've become too agenda oriented.