Or let me re-phrase: during the 2,000 year Diaspora, did yeshiva students get supported by the Jewish community while studying their whole lives? Or were they mostly expected to earn their living while studying on the side?
Only the most exceptional scholars were supported their entire lives, and they became chief rabbis, such as Rabbi Eliahu of Vilna. And even some of those were supported by the labor of their hands, such as Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, now known as Rashi, who was a vinekeeper.