Letter to the Editor: When the TV is on, freedom of speech stops

TV has destroyed conversation everywhere, and yet it is only through talk that people learn much of anything. Talk, reading, writing, and thinking produce mature individuals capable of comparing and contrasting tastes and ideas. (Talking is most important). Common sense comes from common conversation about things like, "Is the govt. conning us again?", "Is Israel using us to fight its wars?" "Is Capitalism just a matter of making money?" etc. Folk wisdom comes from cliches like: "Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts." "Oh, they must be chatting us up to be suckered again." "All that glitters is not gold" etc. Walk in any room where a TV is on and see how quickly everyone sits down and stares at it, regardless of what is on.

TV is the filthy fish tank that we all have to swim in, whether we watch it or not. Political advertising has been abolished from television in countries that understand how inherently bogus it is. If we did that here, we could shorten our campaigns down to one or two months. If we made our media non-profit, we could kill the profit motive completely and deliver a fatal blow to the idiotic ratings popularity system. Instead of producing programs that appeal to the most ignorant, we should get more programming that meets its own standards of integrity.

Media is not an industry or a public service. It is a racket in which crooks make a fortune from pandering and feeding on human weakness. It is pollution, so why should we ever give it a tip. The more lies the creeps broadcast, the more bribes and rackets they produce. Now American ignorance and weakness is despised all over the world because Americans have allowed themselves to be suckered by idiotic TV.

John Hanks
Laramie, Wyo.