I’m not so sure I like the progress that the world has made … Are things for the better? Or are they just for the worst? How did things materialize as they have? How have we arrived at the state that we’re in now? Do you feel that we’re better off than we were, or do you prefer the direction we’re going?
I watched some of the old Schoolhouse Rock shorts that used to be on during Saturday morning cartoons when I was a kid … Remember, Saturday morning was when we used to watch cartoons … now they’re on 24/7 to manipulate our children … Back then we seemed to be more disciplined, and today it seems that the television is our discipline … To shut our kids up we let them vege in front of the television only because it’s better than them playing video games or messing around on the computer, right?
Sometimes I wonder if my family wouldn’t be better off dropping out of society and cleansing ourselves of all of the availabilities of technology that are inherent in our daily lives now … Me, I would probably go crazy without Internet access and email … But I use these things as a tool in my daily life in ways with which to make money … If it’s not about turning a profit in the decisions I make, it’s discussion ways in which to better make situations to make money … I appreciate the ability to have a lot of information at my fingertips when I need it … When that connection isn’t there, I would simply freak …
What would my kids do? What would they do with no television to pass the day? I don’t know … maybe develop an imagination? I have seen that kids these days don’t seem to have much of an imagination, but I have found glimmers of hope in my kids … My little one plays with action figures and makes them talk to one another … My older one plays video games, plays on his GameBoy and surfs the Internet for site with more games … There seems to be an abundance of Flash/Shockwave games out there for kids to play … The oldest started surfing about the age of 2 whereas the 3 year old I wouldn’t let near a computer due to lack of ability … I wonder where that comes from too …
I don’t know, I think I am skirting the real topic of what I wanted to discuss, and I think it’s because it’s hard to explain … I just don’t appreciate the way things have gone down … The way so many things are blown out of proportion and the way things used to be … Bill Cosby was able to do a stand-up routine about regularly beating his children almost every night of the week right after dinnertime … These days you’d probably be arrested for such a topic … In one of the Schoolhouse Rock episodes, a girl grows very large in size while a boy grows very small in size and the girl eventually squashes the boy with her foot … Would that happen today? I don’t think so, but relating to that, there are much worse cartoons on these days that I guess don’t violate political correctness but are even worse that the boy/girl scenario …
I say it all the time, but I think one of the worst things to ever happen was the prime timing of The Simpsons … The Simpsons is an adult cartoon made for adults … But it’s these adults that let their children watch it because hey, it’s a cartoon … If it’s animated, it must be for children … Stupid adults … Kids having kids … I never let my kids watch the Simpsons … While it is an entertaining piece of work originally brought to the world by Tracy Ulman, it’s not for kids. But, too late, it’s already popular amongst children, and I give Bart Simpson the credit for ruining that level of fear that used to be instilled in children when being reprimanded by their elders … Now there is no respect for that anymore, and it’s in that demise that I think respect for anything authoritative or standing for something has just totally gone down the drain … These things are able to be spread in seconds with the availability of the technology we now have today … So, back to the beginning …
Is this a good thing or bad thing, and do you think we will ever see a respectable America that we used to live in? After watching various reports of various happenings right in our country (that I wasn’t prior aware of) I swear I would consider moving somewhere else other than these “fine” United States … Canada seems a nice enough place … So along with the availability of shows such as the Simpsons, I blame the media for much of it as well … The mainstream media in America has gone from an informative source with well thought out news stories and investigations of what is going on in your area to a gossip show … Ambulance chasers … Look at this big fire! Wow! They scare you into watching their news broadcast … ‘Keep it tuned here for the latest on the big storm coming our way that could end the world!’ … Don’t leave your home if you don’t have to … (subtext: keep watching our newscast, cable is killing us) …
If you watch the news, pay attention to what the stories are … Killings … Shootings … Drug Busts … Fires … Accidents … The Fat Pill … Cancer … It’s all negative … They should start: “Tonight’s News: Everything that’s BAD in our area” … Even the fluff is BAD … “Adopt this dog, or we’re gonna KILL it!” … Gun possesion .. crime, crime, crime …
The United States is the worst place to live if you suggest that you have a chance of living after watching the local news … Bah … if I collect my thoughts, I will try to post a followup to this being more specific and legible … I am just truly ranting/rambling now …