The Media War – it’s real, it’s coming at you every minute of every day, and it’s winning. Don’t believe me? Consider these questions: Do you listen to the radio – in your car, at work, at home, in the yard, etc? Do you own a TV (perhaps multiples)? How many hours a day is it ON (Not how many hours do you watch it, but how many is just ON)?! Reports state that the average US citizen listens to 600 to 3000 commercial messages PER DAY! (See http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=56750) ON average that’s 6.4 HOURS per day spent hearing about what someone else is telling you to do, buy, finance, say, vote for, etc. !! I say hearing because even if we are not paying attention, our subconscious mind is still listening - THAT is disturbing America!! Do you read? Do you read every day? What are you reading? Are you reading media that contains advertisements?! Stop, Think! Now – in the time it took to read this - did you just hear one? I’ll bet if you live in the average US household, you did!
I believe that media can be detrimental and in some instances is very dangerous. What we let in, what we keep out influences our very thoughts; our thoughts lead to our actions, our actions then lead to our habits, and those are what ultimately determine our successes and/or failures in life. The daily barrage of media to which we are exposed effects our perception of self and others, our abilities, our responsibilities, our status.
Everything you do and feel is certainly influenced, and in some instances, dominated by your media habits.
Some would argue that it is government that has the biggest control of our lives, but I contend that the corporations have far more control. Get this, buy that, go here, do this, eat this, etc., etc., etc.! Do you think for even one moment that keeping up with the Jones’ is the way to live your life? The materialistic society we live in today is edging out what is really important – God, personal accountability and fiscal responsibility.
Debt and what I call “following the herd” are serious issues we face everyday with our children, families, and in the workplace. Our society is becoming so numb and dumbed-down it is disheartening to hear what people have to say about anything, let alone for people to actually listen to each other and have a meaningful conversation. It seems to me that to stand for something these days is to subject oneself to ridicule and harsh opposition, especially when it comes to faith or chasing a dream.
Over the past two years I have decidedly changed my outlook and my perception of what I thought was true and correct through the complete reversal of my media habits. I shut off the TV almost completely for almost 8 months! I dare you to try that one – No sitcoms, no Lifetime, no Spike, limited local print news, ie: no mainstream media. The silence is deafening at first, but becomes more & more desirable as time passes. You begin to take notice of things: children, people, God’s creation, and most importantly – self. Self-discovery can be a very tough thing and yet it can be inspiring as well!
I hope that you try this experiment & see what you can discover for yourself. Turn down the noise & listen to your life – what do you hear? Talk to your children, ask questions and listen to each other. Read a great book together as a family or with your spouse & talk about what you read. I assure you, it is far more beneficial than the next episode of The Office.
Live Well, Be Well!
Stephen
I very much like this, Stephen. I have done this myself on a number of occasions and currently only watch movies and prerecorded shows sans commercials on my television. For the most part the only music playing in my car is from a cd I choose. I even intentionally ignore media on the internet. I've been called "out of touch" and an "isolationist" on numerous occasions. Personally I find that to be out of touch with myself and my own experience to be the far more heinous situation. The media would like to take us from ourselves and insert their programming into our experience so we can feel like we need something which they will be happy to provide. I don't need it, I don't want it and thank you very much for your efforts but kindly leave me the hell alone.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting challenge you pose, Stephen - turning off the TV. I completely agree with you, though. So many people just have them turned on as background noise for the rest of their daily activities and it's rather sad. So many much more interesting things are going on around us if we just take the time to stop and listen.
ReplyDeleteI have to apologize in my delay on posting these comments. I get a bit tied up in my own media war battles, that I forget to pay attention to some of the battles I started!
ReplyDeleteHow much the better are we for reading and thinking for ourselves instead of choking down all the mass-media garbage?
Hopefully we can propagate the idea of learning to our peers & children before it is too late for our country and our way of life.