Life isn't about what you take, it's about what you give. If everyone takes without giving, there is nothing left to take. If everyone gives without taking, th

Life isn't about what you take, it's about what you give. If everyone takes without giving, there is nothing left to take. If everyone gives without taking, there is enough to take when you need it. This is fundamental to how societies operate. This was core christian ethos before it was corrupted by the GOP. This is why the west has higher trust societies, and much of the rest of the world does not. Reciprocity is an extremely important consideration. Kantian ethics is the foundation of the west. If you take your actions and thoughts and project them onto everyone else, the websites you enjoy wouldn't exist. If you understand that, you just don't want to feel uncomfortable and are in denial. If you do not understand that you are choosing ignorance. You don't have to agree, but we are both effectively parasites. What's worse is the conflict of interest. On the topic of news papers, if content is not paid for it is that the content itself that becomes an engine of money making. Content becomes ads. If nobody pays for high quality investigative journalism you don't get high quality investigative journalism. If you don't donate to your politicians, someone else will. If you don't pay for your news papers, someone else will. If you don't pay for your social media, someone else will. You can argue these companies are taking more than they give, and they are, but your position of personal responsibility is worth considering. The sum of everyone's thoughts on their personal responsibility creates culture, and this "next quarters profits" culture that we live in is an extension of the very ideas you have expressed. When you choose to act in a self interested way, you justify someone else acting in a self interested way. So you justify the selfish acts against you through your actions. If you think it's ok to not experience ads, you justify people using ads to collect and sell your data. Using an adblocker is what you can do, just like selling your data is what the company can do. It's "might makes right" in form, which is the opposite of reciprocity. Might makes right is great for the winner, but I don't think we are winning.