>Cartoon Youtubers told me that "indie animation" is the future
Many Indie animators basically just live off Patreon bucks because putting effort into an animated short will not bring in the YouTube money the same way as someone like Asmongold or Critical shitting out a low-effort video every day about the random drama of the day.

Animation takes effort. And inceasingly animators can't even do it on their own. Look at Meatcanyon for example. A lot of people are under the impression he is a single guy that makes all his animations single-handedly when the reality is that he hires multiple people to get the animations done. But this is after years of making himself an established artist and cultivating an audience willing to fund his Patreon.