it makes it very uncomfortable for them. That makes sense and is a valid frustration. But I don't often hear these people consider what *not* reclining means for the comfort of the person in front of them. Why is their own comfort more important than the comfort of the other passenger?

If you want to ensure more space for yourself, buy a seat in first class. If that's not worth it (understandable), then recognize that one of the costs of public transportation in economy seating is cramped space. That's necessarily going to be a bigger problem for tall/fat people than for smaller people. But that's life and we can't expect everyone to adjust because of your body type. And I say that with full understanding of how frustrating and uncomfortable that might be for some people.

I think this entire debate is kind of bizarre and shows how fragile some people are.