What if I want to read more but not enough to go find my wallet and hand over personal information?

What if you want a cookie, but not enough to go to the grocery store and buy some cookies?

Then you don’t get any fucking cookies.

The difference being that good journalism doesn’t die because I’m too lazy to get a cookie.
Well, no. It dies because you’re unwilling to fund it. Because apparently finding your wallet is too much effort.
And multiply that times a few hundred million lazy humans and now you know why real journalism is dying.

It’s not a viable business model because of capitalism, not because of human nature.

You’re describing a form of the tragedy of the commons.

Totally. If people didn’t have to worry about material needs it would solve a lot of things.
You are a useful idiot trying to come up with ways to avoid admitting how you’re being taken for a ride.

What if you want a cookie, but not enough to go to the grocery store and buy some cookies?

I fixed that for you:

What if you want a cookie, but not enough to go to the grocery store and buy some cookies, after showing your ID card for its number to be written up?