Have been reading the excellent Love All The People by Bill Hicks when I came across this short paragraph that I thought I would share with you because I'm in a bit of 'hippy' mood:I'm reminded yet of another quote, one by Thomas Jefferson that I believe sums up my whole problem with mainstream television. He said, 'I know of no safe depositary of the ultimate powers of society other than the people themselves; and if we deem them too unenlightened to exercise their power with a wholesome discretion, the answer is not to take it from them, but to inform (them).'
If television considers itself in any way the moral arbiter of our society, I think it goes a long way towards explaining the awful situation our culture is in. For television has not 'informed' the people but instead deformed them by deforming reality and presenting it 24 hours a day on 52 channels...no wonder we feel so confused, afraid, and out of control when this is the reflection presented to us as 'life'. There can be only one answer - turn it off, open your window and listen to the breeze and the crickets and the silence that has nothing to sell us, but gives freely - this is Reality.
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There's nothing 'hippy' about it - unless saying that makes me a 'hippy' too. Television should report facts rather than re-interpret them and serve them up as audio-visual pap for the audience. It chooses not to. At least some of us know where the 'off' button is.
3 July 2009 at 11:22I agre about the standard of television today.
3 July 2009 at 13:21Indeed, I'm not even sure if I want to have television facilities in my new home when I move (it'll be a bit cramped as it is!) as it all seems to be about quantity (and cheapness!) rather than quality, and about an often subversive agenda rather than being informative.
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