There is begging and then there is an attempt to create value and simply allowing people to vote with there wallet if they want to support it and see it continue.
I normally stay away from thing like GoFundMe’s as they both have not a great track record for products being released as a shown and then you have people just begging for there whatever in life.
At least the side of Patron I interact with I see it differently then begging. Someone has simply laid out a business plan and at different levels of funding, they will provide different services. This could be as simple as moving from creating video content once a week to twice a week. Along with things like upgrading equipment faster than they really would for content creations. The people supporting are getting something in return from a content creator they enjoy. More videos, high quality or what else someone is providing. Sure they could just sell t-shirts but who needs another over priced t-shirt with some branding on it.