Dr. Mercola October 17 2006 1,596 views
This speech from the movie Network is 30 years old, yet even then it accurately portrayed the truth about TV, that it is one of the primary tools to deceive and manipulate you.
In fact, it is the most awesome propaganda machine in the entire world.
The full speech can be heard through the YouTube link below. Here's a small part of it:
" ... Television is not the truth ... Television is a circus, a carnival, a traveling troupe of acrobats, storytellers, dancers, singers, jugglers, sideshow freaks, lion tamers, and football players. We're in the boredom-killing business.
"So if you want the Truth, go to God. Go to your gurus. Go to yourselves! Because that's the only place you're ever gonna find any real truth.
But, man, you're never gonna get any truth from us ... We deal in illusions, man. None of it is true! But you people sit there, day after day, night after night ... We're all you know! You're beginning to believe the illusions we're spinning here! You're beginning to think that the tube is reality and that your own lives are unreal ..."
It is important to your future health to be highly skeptical of anything you are viewing on TV. It is controlled by large corporate entities that frequently have motives that are not aligned with your long-term best interests.
If you do view TV it is helpful to ask what are they selling here, and who's selling it? That will help defend you against their clever strategies. However, most of the time it will fail because they employ some of the most brialliant marketing geniuses on the planet.
Clearly the best option is to not watch it at all. We will have a story in Thursday's newsletter about a family that did just that.
Many sources cite that the average American watches three to four hours of TV per day, but I personally don't know anyone who would ever admit it. However, that's nearly a month's worth of TV time for me. More than 90 percent of my TV time is spent watching health videos I need to review.
If you really feel like you need to find out "what's going on in the world" for a few hours every day, consider this: do you really suppose the major stories that have dominated headlines and TV news have been "what is going on in the world?"
What is the purpose of news?
To inform the public?
Hardly.
The primary purpose of news is to keep you in a state of fear and uncertainty so that you'll watch again tomorrow and be subjected to the same advertising.
The greatest argument for limiting your family time in front of a television: The completely adverse effect it can have on your child's health and, specifically, preventing the spread of childhood obesity. TV will:
Another effect is an increased susceptibility to reliance on drugs. How is that? Well, did you know that the United States and New Zealand are the ONLY industrialized countries in the world that allow direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs?
I have compiled 20 practical alternatives to TV for you to consider. Engaging in activities that exercise the body and the mind will be better for your children's health -- and for your own.
I completely agree... TV limits imagination (not for the director or actor, but the viewer), causes abnormal brain functioning (as in putting your brain into a state of hypnosis--though not severely noticed, it does do so without your permission), and it portrays someone else's ideas of life on this planet (which is supposed to be made your own).
My children watch vids/movies that we have purchased, but NO TV generally speaking. Saves us money as well .
One additional note: The voices from TV, and the radio (when music is not being played) is HIGHLY disturbing and I mute it asap... ASAP. It is like an attack on my sanity.