Do you think all services should be free?
This is a complex question. In an ideal world, not only services, but goods would be free as well. Just my opinion, but I think that humanity is perfectly capable of creating such a world. Maybe not today... but not all that far from today.
Hopefully you're familiar with the quote from the U.S Declaration of Independence, which declares: "
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness".
To me, anything that serves to fulfill these rights should be equally available to everyone, regardless of their economic or social standing. But what exactly is "
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"? From my perspective they're the things that every parent desires for their children... that they be healthy, that they have the opportunity to pursue an education, and that they grow up believing that their life has a purpose, and that they have the freedom to pursue that purpose. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, "None of us are free, until all of us are free".
It should be humanity's goal to ensure these rights for everyone. As such, placing the news behind a pay wall isn't conducive to those rights, because it denies to some, that which should be available to everyone... the wisdom of those who would desire to share it.
This isn't to say that the author isn't worthy of their compensation... because of course they are... it's to say that we as a society are still discriminating against those less fortunate than ourselves. Only this time it's under the 'ethical' guise of capitalism... that people should only receive that which they have the capacity to pay for... as if for some reason they're not worthy of anything more.
But we as intelligent and compassionate beings should be able to do better. We should be able to compensate a person for their efforts, while at the same time making the fruits of those efforts available to everyone. Some may believe this to be naive and wishful thinking, and I would agree... but I also believe that it's the right thing to do. So if I have to be an outlier, then I'll be an outlier. It won't be the first time.
And free is impossible. Someone has to pay.
Sometimes "
We the people" have to shoulder the burden of the few, in order to ensure the rights of the many.
If I could cheat and avoid paying I would not.
It's unethical.
I'm hoping that that same ethical standard will lead you to understand what Maya Angelou was saying... that even if you have the means, you're not truly ethically exonerated until everyone has the means.