There's a really pernicious attitude of permissiveness, even encouragement, towards theft and evasion of payment for digital goods in many of pockets of online culture. It is disheartening.
Goods are defined as "commodities that are tangible, usually movable, and generally not consumed at the same time as they are produced".
Theft is defined as "the act of stealing; specifically : the felonious taking and removing of personal property with intent to deprive the rightful owner of it"
Access to New York Times articles is not a tangible commodity, and bypassing the paywall in no way deprives the New York Times company of access or of a unit of access to the article.
Money is "tangible, usually movable, and generally not consumed at the same time as it is produced."
Even if by your definition this isn't stealing, you have to admit that you are in fact circumventing the way NYT is attempting to make money for their hard work. The fact is you are stealing from the people who create the content, those maintain it online, etc. Do you intend to deprive the rightful owner of this money? Probably not, but you are still doing it even if that's not your intention.
btw, not trying to single you out, specifically. It's more of a figurative "you"
