TV..do you have it? Do you watch it?

[Beekissed]

I think that was when the shine went off of him for me...when I realized he was the voice for one of the shows on Nat Geowild, where I love the information about the animals~ just not the propaganda about evolution. I already knew he referenced evolution on his show but it was a reminder...and it just took the shine off the apple for me. I lose all interest with any information that touts the theory of evolution as a fact~but that's just me and is not in any way an opening for a discussion or debates on the merits of/against the evolution theory.

 

[FarmerChick]

those kinda things don't bother me. his voice is one of those great voices for narrating and that is all I see
I don't go in depth on tv shows

but he is reading from a script right? I mean are those his personal beliefs? heck I don't know

but if you don't go for certain subjects in shows then alot of that will be limited where you kinda lose good info along with what you don't like but it is sure a choice to turn it off and thatis a good thing for everyone

 

[Beekissed]

Yes, it sure is. I like his voice also...not as much as Sam's, but it's still a good voice.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I live in MD and used to watch Mike Rowe when he was the tv personality for the local Sunday morning homes show...this was back when I only had an antenna and was lucky to get the local channels. I can say I've watched him from the start. I like Mike Rowe. He seems like a genuinely nice guy, and a hard worker.

 

[Icu4dzs]

After years of thinking about this, (and lurking on this thread for a while) the words of Nicolai Lenin(of Russian fame) come to mind when he accused religion of being "the opiate of the masses". Well, that was because he didn't have TV which has now become to some extent replaced by the internet for those of us who don't have time to watch TV. But without a doubt, the TV has become the OPIATE of the masses and after reading this thread, it is clear to me that even folks who spend a significant amount of time doing the things we all know have to get done in order to be self-sufficient, spend a great deal of time mesmerized by the TV.

However, for those severely addicted to TV, it controls their minds and that is why the commercials are so many and SOOOO expensive! People respond to that marketing approach. Unfortunately they are the more mentally weak of our society because those with active/educated minds put their time and energy into the things that make life work. We do our chores, go to church, participate in social activities that get us out of the house and in contact with our countrymen.

TV over the years has caused the decline in our society in any number of ways. When you look at the number of socially oriented organizations that existed in the early 1950's and before, they were all teeming with membership. Then when the TV came out and folks could "entertain themselves" without having to leave their homes, something changed in our country. We began to lose confidence and trust of our neighbors and stopped talking to them or helping them. Social organizations began to steadily lose membership and often declined to the point that they ceased to exist. TV is "too important to miss that show"! Folks don't go to church; they watch it on TV!

When the cable companies first came out they offered "free installation" and lots of "incentives" to buy their "drug". (They still do it and then hit you with the "regular costs after the three month trial. Remember the old (the first one is FREE kid!!!)

Folks bought their "drug" in droves and the price began to rise by magnitudes of order until the people began to rebel and then the Cable-moguls began to back off a little bit. Now they have it so it is "affordable" by the month. Folks will pay their TV/cable/cell phone bill but not their mortgage. How ridiculous is THAT?

When they came to my house back then, I told them I wanted things like National Geographic, The History Channel and things that would supplement my childrens' as well as my own education. When they told me I could only buy it the way they told me to buy it, I not only became skeptical but I decided to tell them to "pack sand" and have NEVER bought cable or Direct/Dish or anything else.

Then they figured out how to force it by changing the TV to "digital" and made you buy either new TV's or more equipment to get their "programming" (I love that word) Kind of sits in the toilet like "brain-washing" to me! They have the majority of the American public "PROGRAMMED" to do what they are told. Even the news report is nothing but bad news; how many people were killed today in the area, how many bad things happened and they think WE NEED to know this. They spend all day figuring out what morbid trash people want to hear.

When I was studying neurology, we had a saying to differentiate brain damage from reversible injury, "Man looks toward injury and away from destruction" but the TV reporters jam destruction down our throats as if that is the most important thing for us to know. They do this because three things sell ANYTHING, Children, Animals and SEX. They also know how morbid interest can be exploited to make money for them? WHY? What about giving us ALL GOOD NEWS instead of all the crime. Crime is a form of publicity and that has made criminals famous on TV, they love the publicity. How many "3" name criminals can you recite? (they are all referred to by three names on the MSM...John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Hillary Rodham-Clinton, etc.) Good folks only get two names; Abraham Lincoln, John Glenn) or if they are fairly good they get their initial (John F. Kennedy, George W. Bush, Etc.)

I asked to pay only for what I wanted and they told me that I couldn't not have what I wanted but only what they wanted to sell me. I asked where else in society do you get told by the vendor what you can and can not buy? If you have the money and want the product, you buy what YOU want, NOT what they tell you to buy and how much. I have never walked into any store and they told me what I can/can't buy. Why would the cable folks think they can do it? I just didn't get that. So they didn't get my money.

So, I while I do have a flat screen TV, it is hooked up to my computer and that has become my monitor. I can (if I ever get the time) watch a movie or Yes, even once in a while I do listen when the POTUS speaks to the American People because no matter how much I would prefer to have another POTUS, he IS the POTUS for now and was elected by the American people.

I am able to use a TV machine for the things I want; given the fact that it is a tool rather than a toy. I don't watch it because I do read books or write here to you all. Writing, is a wonderful way to communicate thus making the TV a bi-directional tool rather than a narcotic to numb the brain and make you stupid. At least writing here, we do some form of communication with others but still it is very anonymous and very few (if any) of us have actually ever met or shared a meal. What happened to those necessary social interactions that cemented friendship and neighborly love?

The TV has become so efficient at dumbing down the American people that they have fallen behind in the field of education in the world to an abominable degree. No longer is the American student at the top of the worlds educated minds. Asian children are walking all over American children and they are coming here and doing well, both financially and scientifically.

Our children have become so numbed with the Internet, Games and TV that they have NO functionality. When was the last time your child could show you how to use a slide rule? When was the last time your child could explain Geometry with only two things; a pair of dividers and a right angle? What do our children know about the world and why so many in the world want nothing more than to destroy us and wipe us off the face of the earth? Do they even understand that this is the case? Nope, because they watch garbage on TV that makes them stupid. They see enough violence, crime, sodomy, and all manner of sin on TV but see very little if any virtue. Why can't they watch Congress on regular TV? Why do you have to have cable and then only when they want to let you see how little that they are doing in Congress. The ball game is much more important isn't it?

Then we have the political TV business. If you were to actually account for all the money spent in political "campaigns" it would pay the national debt and the majority of it goes to the MSM because they can charge whatever they want and the politician has to pay it or not get "the product". That is why the MSM has become owned by politicians. He who pays the most, gets the most "face time" and gets the "best coverage" and the least "negative criticism". While that is a "No-Brainer" we all have had it shoved down our throats till we are sick of it. That way THEY control who we vote for because THEY announce the "WINNER" even sometimes before the polls are closed or THEY announce the favorite in the "polls" which are absolutely un-reliable and unbelievable because they use statistics to make the argument they want you to believe rather than keep it unbiased.

Yep, we gotta love TV in this country. It is single-handedly destroying the minds and morals of our last two generations and we can all be thankful that it is FREE! Well, Not any more because they told us if we pay them for it we'd avoid commercials and we all know THAT ISN"T TRUE.

So friends and neighbors, we SS-ers have very little time to numb our brains with that wonderful "Boob-Tube" (kind of an interesting term considering the use of the word "Boob" in some circles. Kinda works the same way for children and adults, huh?

Yep, I did it again. I filled your page with my "personal opinion" and am certain some will find what I said, "offensive" but then again we must always remember "Brutus IS an honorable man"
YMMV
Trim sends

//BT//

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Then they figured out how to force it by changing the TV to "digital" and made you buy either new TV's or more equipment to get their "programming"

You didn't have to buy a new tv, you had to get a digital converter box. The box costs $40 but they gave out coupons so people could get them for free.

 

[Beekissed]

I liked that dissertation and am not the least offended.

 

[Toulle]

After years of thinking about this, (and lurking on this thread for a while) the words of Nicolai Lenin(of Russian fame) come to mind when he accused religion of being "the opiate of the masses". Well, that was because he didn't have TV which has now become to some extent replaced by the internet for those of us who don't have time to watch TV. But without a doubt, the TV has become the OPIATE of the masses and after reading this thread, it is clear to me that even folks who spend a significant amount of time doing the things we all know have to get done in order to be self-sufficient, spend a great deal of time mesmerized by the TV.
<snipped>
Yep, I did it again. I filled your page with my "personal opinion" and am certain some will find what I said, "offensive" but then again we must always remember "Brutus IS an honorable man"
YMMV
Trim sends
http://www.sufficientself.com/forum/uploads/1808_images.jpeg
//BT//

hmmmmmm, as usual a lot to digest with many good points.....

I do know you're right about at least one thing: I for one spend too much time watching tv.

If by "offensive" you mean making one think outside their comfort zone, then by all means be as offensive as you please.

Let me work on my muscadine vines while I think that over. More later.....

 

[MorelCabin]

ICU4DZS...great post...and I, for one like your opinion!!!

 

[Joel_BC]

TV over the years has caused the decline in our society in any number of ways. When you look at the number of socially oriented organizations that existed in the early 1950's and before, they were all teeming with membership. Then when the TV came out and folks could "entertain themselves" without having to leave their homes, something changed in our country. We began to lose confidence and trust of our neighbors and stopped talking to them or helping them. Social organizations began to steadily lose membership and often declined to the point that they ceased to exist. TV is "too important to miss that show"!

Boy, I sure agree with the main line of your argument, Trim. We're in a different national political reality up here, yet so much of what you've said about personal functionality and the influence of TV seems quite accurate to me. Especially when TV (or on-line game or video entertainment on the web) becomes a substitute for planning, focusing, and carrying out projects. And acquiring skills.

I've felt that way for years.

A bit of disclosure: My wife and I lived without TV for about 10 years (and I'd shut TV out of my life, as a very young guy, for 8 years before that. We decided to get a second-hand TV to watch movies, selectively, by renting videos. We broadened a bit and got satellite service for educational TV networks, selective film watching, etc. We tend to watch the annual hockey season play-offs (this is big in Canada... in fact hockey and soccer are BIG in Canada). We're haphazard about watching TV news, in a day... sometimes forgeting it.

We are so completely devoted to doing things that TV's not a problem, I guess. Our friends are like this too. Eveybody works for income, spends time with friends & family, works on their places... builds, maintains, repairs things. We read books, get useful info off the web... and, oh yeah, some Scrabble fanatics amongst our crowd, too. We know we're not typical for Canada or North America.

One good thing that could possibly come out of the current, sobering economic hard times would be a re-orientation of values, a reframing of "reality".