Ads are what fund the open web. If you want to start a new site, you can put ads on it and start making money. You don't need to convince people to pay you (very hard to do when you're as big as the NYT, let alone when you're small and new), you just sign up to have part of the space on your page used to advertise things.
If you are not ok with ads, use an ad blocker. As I wrote above, sites are offering a trade: you can see our content if you also view our ads. I think ad blockers are fine as a way of saying "I reject your offer", but then the site should be free to say "then I won't send my content".
(Ad blockers today also try to fool the site and work around anti-adblock, which I think isn't fair to the sites.)
> Why do you work for them?
They pay me, it's interesting work, I don't think the work is harmful.
> Do you have an ad blocker on your personal machine?
No. Ads are sometimes annoying, but they don't bother me very much.
> Do your parents?
No, though of course that's not up to me and if my dad decided to install one I wouldn't give him a hard time.
> Do you think about the negative externalities of being paid to fool people into parting with their money?
I have thought about the effect of my job a bunch, but I don't think "fool people into parting with their money" is a major effect of advertising. I've written more about this:
https://www.jefftk.com/p/effect-of-advertising
https://www.jefftk.com/p/value-of-working-in-ads
> Do you believe in the products that you let advertise on your platform?
There are an enormous number of products that advertise through the Google Publisher Tag. Some of them I would buy, some of them aren't right for me but are right for others, and others aren't a good choice for anyone. This is the same thing I'd say about a grocery store.
> How do you justify it?
I don't think I'm doing something harmful that needs "justifying".
If I thought my job was harmful I would quit and do something else.