I have a secret, and I’m finally going to confess it publicly here.
I killed my television a little over two years ago.
No, not literally. I still own two of the beasts. But they are not connected to cable or satellite, and therefore, in essence, I killed my television. (Have you ever tried to get reception in downtown Easton? Probably not, but trust me, there is NO reception here.)
I have never been happier.
“But you’re in the news biz,” you say. “How on earth do you know what’s going on?”
Well, let me reassure you, I stay well informed. And I would say I’m better informed than I was before I “killed” my television.
Albeit a slow dial-up connection, I have the Internet and, therefore, a literal world of news sources at my finger tips. And, if something really big comes up, I can rest assured that if it really requires television, if it’s really that big, every television at every local bar will be tuned to it. So, if I really need to see some TV, I just hit the local watering hole, order coffee (they humor me since I tip well), and watch it there.
But if it’s really that big, I can watch it live, in real-time on the Internet anyway, just like I did this year’s State of the Union Address.
Over the last two years, I figure I’ve saved more than $1,200 alone in just paying for a cable subscription. (I didn’t have any premium services, so others might save even more if they followed my example.)
But that is not the reason I killed my television; it’s just another perk of having done so.
Of course, I’m not a masochist, and I don’t belong to any obscure religious sect. I’m not totally without need for visual entertainment, so I rent movies a couple of times a week. This has probably cut into the savings a bit (despite crafty designs to wrench every last benefit out of my preferred Blockbuster account), but I’m still many multiple hundreds of dollars ahead of the game. And again, I’m much happier, not to mention, I’m the one in charge of the “programming” now.
Why did I do it? One day, a couple of years ago, I woke up and realized that I wasn’t programming my free waking hours, the boob tube was. And I became determined to change that. Now I have much more time to focus on the things that really matter to me.
When I do catch a little television time, usually at friends’ houses, I am shocked at what I see, because now I really see it. Sex and violence are gratuitously mixed, and I’m just not entertained. Truly immoral, nasty, petty relationships are glorified. And educational programs are light on any real substance. When I see them, I find myself asking, “Where’s the beef?”
It is estimated that the average American child watches television about 8 hours a day. By the time they reach the age of majority, they will have spent more than a year of their lives, 24/7, watching television.
Americans spend more time watching television than they spend with their children or spouses, more time than they work, more time than they spend on hobbies. Americans spend more time watching TV than they spend time at any other single thing other than sleeping. And sometimes they even sleep less than they watch TV!
Many turn on the TV upon waking, and some complain they can’t sleep without it.
Since the time of television’s rise to power, literacy rates have fallen, and the number of people, particularly children, diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder have soared. The average attention span perfectly mirrors the amount of time between commercials.
Reality TV? Yes, TV has become THE American reality. Instead of living their own lives, most people in this country live their lives through the lives of other people, people they’ve never even met. How many times have you heard singles and seniors say they have the TV on “for the company?”
Most people form their opinions, whether they realize it or not, through ‘facts’ that are sanitized of opposing viewpoints. And if they saw it on TV, it must be true.
Think about it for a minute. Is there any opinion you’ve formed on just about any subject, that cannot be traced back to television in some way? Does that scare you? When was the last time you read a good book? Do you find yourself saying, “I’d really like to (insert your wish here), but I just can’t find the time.” When was the last time you had a dinner cooked at home, from scratch, with your family without the TV running in the background?
Forget oil addiction, TV addiction is the most immediate threat to America and American values.
Kill your television now! I’m not advocating you actually take a hammer to it or throw it out a window (at least, don’t defenestrate it from a multiple-story building where it might land on an unsuspecting pedestrian).
But you might consider trying to get through a day or two without it. And if you’re feeling really adventurous, there’s Turn Off TV Week coming up starting April 26, 2006. If you get through the whole week, when you turn it back on, you might just be shocked at what you see.
(Originally printed in The Easton News, March 9, 2006)
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