[lapcat]

> because I feel $14/mo or whatever the price is still too much for the value it delivers in the current year, and generally worried that I might need that $14 in a year

What if you're wrong, though, and indeed what if many people are wrong in the same way, cancelling Netflix and passing up the opportunity of enjoyment to save a little money, but in the long run it makes no difference, and only hurts them in the short-term by depriving them of the enjoyment? That's the point of the article, that layoffs are empirically self-defeating.

It's not about a mythical "obligation" to employ someone. The cruelty comes from laying off people unnecessarily, when there's no benefit.