I think if subscription services for university textbooks didn’t exist then I’d be screwed. But even that doesn’t matter much when £10 a month is still way too much for you. 
Poverty will do that to you. Education and exams cost £5k, so it took everything I had, and then there’s accomodation costs because most schools won’t accept private candidates so you have to stay in a major city, which is expensive. It stacks quickly, all just to get a degree, which is basically essential for any stable employment nowadays.
Part of why I’m unfortunately going to defend (a lot of) piracy. You learn pretty quickly at the bottom that you only matter when you’re making someone else money. It’s hard enough already. Denying people recreation is just an extension of “Your only worth is making someone else money” and just addresses the symptom, not the cause. It’s often all people have as any form of entertainment in a constantly depressing environment.
I have more problems with the system than I do piraters.
Yup, welcome to having a society structured around economic worth rather than personal happiness. 