FC: Forget Internet restrictions -- how about banning TV?

[mgraffam at mhv.net]

On Thu, 9 Jul 1998, attila wrote:

> On Thu, 9 Jul 1998, Declan McCullagh forwarded from TIME:
> 
> >...
> >   The revolution will not be televised -- at least not in Afghanistan.
> >   The Taliban government today banned TV, and gave Afghans 15 days to
> >   get rid of all sets and VCRs. After that, if the organization's
> >   enforcers find one in your house, it will be destroyed and you will be
> >   punished.
> >...
> 
>     sounds good to me; I've raised 5 children who know how to _read_.
> 
>     I've never owned a television, never saw the need to bring cancer
>     into the home. TV could have been one of the greatest educational
>     tools in the existence of mankind --and, what is it? nothing more
>     than bread and circus for the mass, a tool for social reoganization 
>     and the destruction of the family.

I suspect one day someone will be saying something similar about the
net.

I have a small TV and cable, which sits a few feet away from my computer.
If I could, I'd just fly around the country going to Mets and Yankees
games.. and of course during the "slow season" I can always go to football
games. 

TV is what you make of it. I suppose if a kid sits in a room by himself
and vegges out in front of it, it does more harm than good.. on the
other hand, when you're 15 years old and can't talk to your dad about
much because its just that time in life, I'd be willing to bet baseball
or sports is still neutral enough territory. I don't see much wrong
with crowding around the idiot box as a family or group, if it gives
people something to talk about. Politics and religion can be fun now and
then, but we all get weary of fighting the same battles. 

Sure, lots of TV is garbage.. but hell.. look around.. a whole lot of
the net is too. 

It isn't TV's fault, and it isn't the net.. the reason why so many things
suck is because we made them. More often than not, we're the garbage.

hmm.. I had hoped this message might be uplifting. Guess not.

Michael J. Graffam (mgraffam at mhv.net)
http://www.mhv.net/~mgraffam -- Philosophy, Religion, Computers, Crypto, etc
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