We might need nuance, but dignity doesn't pay the bills.

It reminds me of the donation drives of Wikipedia who are a microcosm of all this tension. Wikipedia is a genuinely important service that needs to keep going, but boy their marketing manipulative and cringy as hell.

Taking free money isn’t asking for handouts.

Taking free money is (in this case) someone you know handing you $100 and saying ‘merry Christmas’ or whatever.

Sure, you could throw it on the ground and say ‘f you’.

But these are existing customers who already give you money and are presumably happy with your service.

> presumably happy with your service

The OP is about billions being spent by people who are not happy but haven't unsubscribed, so that seems like a bad presumption.

Seems like a bad presumption to assume they aren’t happy with the service.

Or is taking the standard deduction morally reprehensible too?

> a bad presumption to assume they aren’t happy with the service.

The OP says they forgot to unsubscribe, which certainly implies they aren't 'happy' with it.

By OP you mean the article? Or someone else?

The article is a typical editorial. And behind a paywall, near as I can tell.

taking free money is in this case like your grandma living on a fixed government pension giving you 50 dollars even though you're 35 making 100 grand a year and keeping it because fuck her.

So everyone paying for a subscription is a poor pensioner?

In this case it’s more like taking the standard deduction.

yes, compared to any CEO of these massive conglomerates, absolutely yes.