11/16/2007
The idiot box goes on strike
The writer’s strike has captured my imagination. On May 9th, Newton Minow gave a speech to the N.B.A and made the famous utterance: Television is a vast wasteland. How can anybody disagree with that? Television is not just a digital billboard for Madison Avenue but a propaganda tool for the corporate state. No doubt that the news divisions of major networks are embedded with the corrupt Republican government. When they accuse the media of being liberal, it is a diversionary tactic to make you think the network is taking a dissident stance when they are feeding you obfuscation, obscurantism, and deception. What is so sad that U.S Americans get all their information or misinformation from network news, and others don’t even watch news? Then
They get pissed off when they go to the gas station and put most of their paycheck in the gas tank. Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness have translated into a self-obsessed existence. In other words: I couldn’t give a squat about nothing unless it affects me personally. With that type of apathy, the police state would not have to fire a shot and just walk in and shut your freedom right off like a light switch. So if most U.S American depend on Television for news, what would happen if there were no programs, no commercials, no news casts, no sporting events, no cartoons for the kids or no transmission of any kind. Just static and snow on the screen. What if television went off the air due to a union shut down? What a concept? Would people start reading newspapers again? Would they start listening to the radio? Would they get their information from the World Wide Web? Or would they just recoil and watch DVD’S?
I support the writer’s strike and I would support news writer’s strike also. The problem of our political crisis is Television! If we could cut the cord of propaganda, that would be a good start. Not all T.V would be silenced, people would tune into real alternative stations like Link T.V or Free Speech T.V by just channel surfing. On the negative side, Fox News would remain on the air because they non-Union. But if the Camera people refuse to cross the picket line then Fox would be toast, brunt toast that is. This would include stagehand workers or even make up artists. They would honor the strike.
If you feel inconvenient because your favorite T.V shows is off the air, go walk your dog, clean you shower stall, read a good book, have sex with somebody or even yourself. Really, T.V is not that important. Go picket with the writers or make your own picket line. Shut off that boob tub!
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/videolinks/videolink_354.html