Entitlement

I work for a cellular company, work on a computer all day and talk on a landline AND a blackberry all day. trust me. You DON'T need any of it. They're convenient at times but if I didn't have a wife and child...I doubt I'd have a phone. Although I suppose it would be more of a "Fuck you!" to society than any other reason, I'd be really pleased about making that sortof statement. The fact that you might actually NEED a certain kind of tech in order to "survive" in a particular culture...well...it just goes to show you that North American culture is way, way fucked. As for people on welfare. We fixed that in Canada. Anyone who tries to run a welfare scam gets fed to lions. These lions are in turn sold to wealthy arabs from the U.A.E. Funds received from such sales are then used to purchase flat screen televisions for contributing citizens, minus a small amount skimmed off the top for our psychic emperor.

As P.J. O'Rourke stated: "The biblical injunction is to clothe the naked, not style them."

Our family does not have cable TV. Hasn't hurt us one bit. For the first five years of our marriage we didn't even own a TV! We have three gaming systems and if there is any particular movie we feel we MUST see, there is a blockbuster down the road. We do have a computer, which I believe is a lot more important tool then a television. I sometimes miss Discovery and History channels but lets face it cable is mostly more crap anyway. I understand there will be an option via MediaCenter to get these channels on the way.

What is this antenna that you speak of? You can get free TV? Bah. next you will tell me I don't need my XM radio and that there are free channels. . . Good points and some people really need to understand your points on hardship issues. Not having TV is, without a doubt, not a hardship. My wife works in a similar field and her clients are always acting like their cable bill needs to be paid by the agency because they can not live without it. BAH!

Hear, hear! Sounds almost like you and DevonsAngel collaborated on your blogs today! And I support your feelings 100%. Too much 'owed' and not enough 'earned' these days. Thanks for a good read!

cable tv is crap anyway. anything that is on tv is available on the web for free. tell them to invest in a pair of headphones, go to a library, and watch what they want. for free.

I often deal with an over-developed sense of entitlement at my place of work as well, although nowhere near as dramatic as what you have to deal with. We live in a strange point in society's development as well as the history of the planet. Television and to a somewhat lesser extent internet access have become a necessity in some people's eyes. People actually believe it's a hardship when they don't have television or internet access. They are slowly edging their way closer and closer to the staples for survival like food and water and shelter. Of course, people that have enough intelligence to recognize the difference between necessity and luxury are a dwindling minority. Things will be mighty interesting in the next ten to fifteen years.

Well I can see internet access becoming a necessity in the future. It may not play out that way, but similar to how a phone line is almost a necessity now.

When my wife was in school, and we had three kids and I was the only income we did fine with a pair of rabbit ears and long bits of wire strung from them around our apartment to get TV. Sometimes I miss the old days.

You can watch far more interesting things on the internet.... And if theres a show you have to watch, you can always find a torrent of it and download it yourself.

I'm in agreement that cable TV is crap. There are some diamonds in the rough, but for the most part it's stupid shows that are all repackagings of one another meant to allow a person's brain to die for a half hour. I really hope that eventually TV will be completely on demand entertainment so that we can get rid of all the worthless stuff that only gets watched because there's nothing good on. As far as those people who leech off of welfare and whatever else... perhaps it's good they're losing Fox. If they lose enough good programming then maybe they won't sit around on their asses watching TV and letting the money come to them and they'll go get a job. Those who actually need welfare, you can keep getting the check. If you need it I have no gripe with you. Those who don't, I hope you lose your monthly check and have to do something with your life other than live poorly and bitch about it. You're a shining example of people who use it for what it's needed for and then work your way back to self-sufficiency. Kudos and props to you.