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We want information about the pandemic, don't we? If we do not pay for it, all we will get is what people figure out in their spare time while confined to their
by Noumenon72 7y ago
We want information about the pandemic, don't we? If we do not pay for it, all we will get is what people figure out in their spare time while confined to their homes. Without paywalls, we would just have Kickstarters like "If everyone who wants to know whether farmers are able to produce fresh fruit gives me $5, I will go and ask them!"
You can always get the information by word of mouth or waiting. The amount you're not willing to do that is the amount you should pay to see it now. (I don't pay and just read the reaction in the comments for free.)
- dheera 7y agoI disagree, I think when it comes to a pandemic or any other public safety issue, immediate access to information should be free. FWIW NYT has disabled the paywall on all their articles about coronavirus (although there's still a loginwall). We shouldn't be putting prices on human lives.
- Noumenon72 7y agoIf the NYT gives it for free, that means you should read the NYT, not steal from people who don't give it for free. Putting prices on human lives is a good idea. We do it for food, we do it for car safety, we do it for relative risk analysis. Putting a price on groceries means the government can subsidize food fairly, rather than having individuals break the locks on the grocery stores and say "food should be free".