Addicted

Some politicians say we are addicted to foreign oil, well maybe, but one thing I can guarantee that we are addicted to is Television. Since I feed my family with the money broadcasting brings us I’m not complaining too much, but when does a good thing go bad? Since about 2004 the average house in America has more TVs than people and of course that number continues to rise. I have a coworker who lives alone and has a TV in each of the six rooms in his home. At work I sit in a room with fourteen 55” flat screen monitors watching about 83 channels. How much TV can a person take? The addiction is so bad we have Closed Captioning for the deaf and Descriptive Video Service so blind people can watch TV.
There is an ebb and flow to history we as a culture indulge too much in one area and like a remorseful kid who ate too much cake we feel sick about it the next morning. I don’t mind being counter cultural so for years I haven’t had a TV in my home. If I need, I can get a fix at work, but even without a TV I can get a fix from Hulu, Youtube, or Redbox. So please don’t stop your addiction cold turkey, my kids need to eat, but find a balance. Reading this brilliant blog is a good start but there is still radiation pulsating into your head from whatever device you’re reading this from. Find a hobby, read a book or a magazine (not the online version), spend time with other humans talking face to face and slowly detox off of the most addicting thing in your house. If you’re a content producer take heart, the country is full of addicts desperate for a hit of what you got. Some addicts are so hopeless lost in their TV they will indulge in the equivalent of paint sniffing, they’ll watch Jersey Shore.

Jason Troyer
Denver, CO