While I am no longer working in Academia and don't have access to journal subscriptions I'm still able to easily read papers in my discipline (Materials Science

While I am no longer working in Academia and don't have access to journal subscriptions I'm still able to easily read papers in my discipline (Materials Science) and many others across a wide range of related physical science fields. Granted, PhDs are a minority of the general public, I'm still a member of the public and I'd like to read journal articles that come about as the result of my tax-funded research grants. Other smart people, with some dedication and effort could learn enough to read scientific journals. People learn to read music or learn other languages. If you wanted to learn science you should have access to the works you helped fund.