No one said YouTube was easy, but I know a whole bunch of channel owners that are tightly niched in something they are passionate about and they earn a (good) full-time living from it. Certainly it took years and maybe 100 or more videos, but it happens more than you think. Looking at these subjects (e.g. retro computing, or making furniture) you'd wonder how you could ever get enough people interested in that.

In fact I know more people making a full-time living from YT than any other hustle, including writing, so maybe a channel isn't such a terrible idea.

But I get your sentiment. It's definitely not a get rich scheme. I've edited enough videos to know that.