There it is in the corner. The box, the tube, that portal to other worlds good and bad.
I walk over and switch it on and in pours the darkness.
My head reels as the global warming and the wars and the smashes and the domestics assault my brain.
Armies are on the move, rebellion is here and there, pubs are under robbery, people are being bashed in our streets, movie stars are talking, perverts are chasing the kids, porn is pouring through...
What is it doing to my mind? Is this the reason for my spirit of unhappiness in the mornings? Is the infirmity caused by this sadness debilitating world society? Where are the happy stories? Commercial TV rarely has any. Commercial television has nothing but rubbish it seems? What is Idol and BB? Who is aware of this debilitation? Will the federal government regulate to help us out of the infirmity? Is television making us sick? Genuinely sick as a species?

Gibo, read some history books. The world is no more bad, sick corrupted, despotic, evil or sadistic than it was in the past. The main difference is that we now know about a world outside of our own immediate existence, and we can see whether things are better or worse than our experience. The other thing is that we re now far more willing to openly discuss our concerns and analyse what we see as the problems of the world and society, whereas in the past the shameful things were buried and not spoken about. Note that this does not mean that they didnt happen. The result is perhaps that we know more about how hard the world and human nature in particular can be, but at the same time that knowledge gives us the means to at least try to do something about it.

Gibo, I think you're right. Technology will bring us nothing but tears. Stop watching now. Disconnect your internet connection as well, now that you've noticed they are coming for you. There is no escape if you stay online.

Gibo, I feel so dismayed when I watch TV. When SbS arrived I thought things would finally get better. Well, what a disappointment. that station is simply another ABC devoted to further the left wing interests. Commercial free they say. What utter crap. The promos outplay the commercials by 100:1. Look the insanity of saturation sport especially on australian TV. Look the mindlessness of showing Rage until 10 am. The oversaturated playing of cartoons is another mindless factor in Australia. All the forums are compered by idealistic academic ignoramuses and most of the audience's experts are of academic background. The frivolous commands more air-time than a plane crash in Africa unless of course an Australian was on board. I have only seen NZ & some european Tv and in comparison to them OZ Tv is simply moronic. Is it any surprise that this once great country is sliding so fast towards it's home-made demise.

I see. Well individual, you're welcome to join the 'we're all doomed' club. I believe Leigh's leading that charge.

Might I ask, instead of simply denigrating SBS, can you suggest what it is you would prefer to see?

I think I will have to challenge you Country Gal. There has always been evil and misery this is known but not so many people involved in it as today. Its no longer cultural but going global. I see TV is part of the fall of a civilisation because of the immorality that comes through it. SBS is the classic in Australia bringing all of the sleaze in Europe to once quieter Australia. Theres not much more than sex on SBS even the aborigine males in the outback get their immorality from that channel.
I would like to see an inquiry into television and what its doing to the children...their hearts and their thinking.
Look at the 1950's...family shows, light comedy, a western or two but none of the hate and violence and sex and foul language of 2007. None of the explicit death in news. My claim is that television is debilitating the human spirit and out of this is coming much of the depression, drugs and alcohol then the marriage and relationship split-ups. Its taking away hope. As one christian pastor said "garbage in, garbage out". We are making ourselves sick by watching it and the people are hooked and society suffers because of the leeches who want to make money out of the medium. The medium is corrupting. And the managers know it... and dont care in the downfall of a civilisation.

So Gibo... you're saying society is more immoral now than in the days of the Roman Empire?

Im saying TRTL its broader with more people involved.
The Bible says that it will be like in the days of Noah in the endtimes...and what happened to those people? Down came the waters above, to dispose of a global population so corrupt were they.
*One might presume that Rome being built all over again (the revised Roman empire) that christians once more will cop the lot from a Rome emperor before Jesus Christ gets back.

TRTL, perhaps Gibo will point out what ultimately happened to that civilisation, but it does make my point nicely that television isnt an evil being that brought all this on. It simply is a medium by which we are perhaps more able to see just how nasty the world can be.

Gibo, there is plenty more than sex on SBS. It has plenty of great documentaries, and most of my viewing is based on SBS and the ABC (which is the only station I grew up with). Most of the rest I consider rot, so I choose not to watch it. And really, that's the ultimate decision of each individual. Just because a particular program is on doesnt mean that you have to watch it. Simply exercise your free choice and turn it off. As for the likes of BB, if few enough people watch it, then it will be canned. If it stays, then it indicates there are people interested. I watched some of the first season given that it was a bit of a novelty, but after that I consider it to be plain idiocy, so I do something else instead.

Having mostly said my bit Im still interested in what people think the debilitating effects of the negativity that comes through the medium is going to do. The whole world is hooked apart from native groups here and there. What is the longterm damage to the spirit and the soul of mankind, if any, of all of this darkness? What kind of world are we being drawn into.
*What happened to the Roman empire Country Gal? It killed thousands and thousands of born again christian believers until God allowed the barbarians in ...then the emperors converted to popes in order to survive because no one was game to kill a major religious leader (too many curses they figured) and Rome lived on, the glory gone, and always trying to grasp it back. The last two popes have been on a crusade, just like Islam, to conquer the world for their fallen system. A One World Church the RC's are building and in the end... the christians die again.

TRTL,
What the-not-so-bright ridicule & ignorantly descibe as doom & gloom is in fact proof of what's happening. The acceptance of moronic TV programming in the last two decades by so many in society confirms that the dumming of the masses via left-wing controlled education is achieving it's objective.
What should SBS show ? Well, first up cut back promos & commercials to 10 minutes/hour. If they can't manage that then get out of the TV game. Show at least one educational program a month and invite real people to televised forums instead of uni students & public servants. How often have you witnessed a compare saying "we're out of time" as soon as a normal intelligent person asks a question. Yet the "experts" can waffle on in their academic gobbledeegook without interuption.
People have been saying for generations that the new generation is worse than the previous. Guess what ? They're right.

This saturday morning I made a cuppa & turned on the Tele @ approx. 6.30 and blimey ! Ch 7=cartoons, ABC=Rage, Ch=9 cartoon. SBS=foreign news. To me SBS had the only sane programme despite the fact that I couldn't understand the Chinese news. For the rest of the weekend it'll be saturation sport. ABC radio ? football, football, football, footba...................................................................................................................................
I give up !

Thats good Individual. It was debilitating your spirit anyway. Somewhere down the road you might have gone into despression and crossed the road to the pub and thats not a good road either.
We really need to look at the social consequences of all of this negativity/darkness pouring in through the tube and into our inner beings. Its not making us well. Its almost as if there is a conspiracy to get us depressed and hooked on drugs and alcohol. Maybe the PLA is behind it all (joking of course) though I often thought they were behind the global drug problem to weaken the resolve of western youth for the day of the great outward march (Revelation 9:16 and 16:12).

Its true individual, Winnie the Pooh has driven me into a life of sin! why didnt anyone warn me about Postman Pat and his black and white cat!!

with TV programming like that it's no wonder that we now get blank, vacant stares from many of young australians instead of bright-eyed reaction. I have forced myself to watch kids' TV a few times just to see what they're exposed to. It really is designed to create masses of mindless consumers. The un-thought-of problem is that they won't be useful as workers to create revenue because they'll be too stupid for work. As a matter of fact many already are. So, there's another problem. Tomorrows australians will be no different to todays' brainwashed, religous fanatic imports.

I'm still waiting for the post that says i) no-one forces you to buy a television, ii) no-one forces you to turn it on and iii) no-one forces you to watch programmes that you feel might rot your brains, sap your vital fluids and render you impotent.

It is a bit like saying "banging my head against this brick wall is turning my brains to mush, so walls must be evil".

Get a life folks.

Gibo: "There it is in the corner. The box, the tube, that portal to other worlds good and bad.
I walk over and switch it on and in pours the darkness."

So don't switch it on. Give it away to someone who isn't a raving lunatic.

There you go, Pericles :)

Gibo, who are we to judge what's good and bad viewing for everyone anyways? If I want to watch porn, then thats what i'll do. You may consider it evil or whatever, but I don't fear sex, I see it as a natural human desire.

I just whish that TV wasn't so dominated by market forces. What I want to watch is not always what is shown on TV either as this is dominated by the majority's whishes, but this brings me to my next point: buy a DVD player and find some movies (westerns?) that relfect your values and the society you believe once existed in the 1950s or whenever. By controlling your programming this way you can watch only stuff that you agree with and perpetuate the idea that society in the 1950s was in a golden age and it has now descended into chaos.

Gibo, "There has always been evil and misery this is known but not so many people involved in it as today." - do you mean in straight out numbers - the population is higher than it ever has been before so therefore the numbers of people who do evil is higher or do you mean a greater proportion of the population do evil?

If the latter can you substantiate that claim?

"Look at the 1950's...family shows, light comedy, a western or two but none of the hate and violence and sex and foul language of 2007. None of the explicit death in news. My claim is that television is debilitating the human spirit and out of this is coming much of the depression, drugs and alcohol then the marriage and relationship split-ups. Its taking away hope." - the stuff I grew up with is in my view similar to what you describe but my generation seems to have embraced "depression, drugs and alcohol then the marriage and relationship split-ups" as did the generation before us.

Do you have any evidence that the generation raised in the last 10 to 15 years has taken to those things with a greater gusto than those who have gone before?

As I read think about this stuff I have some sense of hope. Racism, sexism and homophobia (some of the marks of evil) are becoming unfashionable. Some still embrace them but those willing to publicly proclaim their love for those traits of evil are a small noisy minority. As a society we still have work to do to rid ourselves of those kinds of evil but I think that we are making progress.

R0bert

It is a bit like saying "banging my head against this brick wall is turning my brains to mush, so walls must be evil".
Pericles,
To ignore a problem is about as low as one can get. EVERY adult has a RESPONSIBILITY to show a younger person the choices they're being offered & given in order to make the right choice for their life ahead. TV programmers have an even greater responsibility because of the wider reach they have. To say people should ignore anything they don't approve of is like saying that they should ignore crime or terrorism, or racism, or incompetent officials.
Or like saying if you don't like my post don't read it. What you got to consider is that all the rubbish on Aust. TV is being logged into young peoples mind. Unfortunately, a mind is unlike a rubbish bin which can be emptied.