So, how am I abusing my television? Well, let me put it this way, I like to yell at the digital people on the screen… a lot… and very loud… sometimes, I think they can actually hear me. My voice and reactions must carry through the wonderland of audio and video frequencies… I whole heartedly believe that! I don’t yell and scream at the real people in my life, why do I yell at digital representations of people on my television? If I was the only one that does this, I might feel a bit weird, or maybe even crazy. But, I KNOW I’m not the only one who EXPECTS the people inside the television to hear and obey the screams of those watching.

And so, I abuse my television, it carries the weight of this burden quite well. It has yet to talk back to me and it never fails to turn on. It must be a glutton for punishment because if I listened to how I talk to it (and I’m using talk very loosely here), I would have up and blown my picture tube a long time ago. I would have ceased to recognize the remote control signals and simply sit there doing absolutely nothing. Yep, that’s what I would do quite honestly. I’m sure glad my television doesn’t have any artificial intelligence at all.

Not only do I scream at the video game people, but I yell at people playing the variety of sports that I watch. How can they make such lousy plays when they’ve been playing these sports for the vast majority of their living and breathing life? Shouldn’t they be nearly unstoppable in every facet of their sport after practicing for nearly 20 years and being paid to do it to boot? From missed free throws to missed bunts to missing their pit in the race… how can it be done?

In reality, these people DESERVE to be yelled at and yelled at VERY loudly. Not only are they making their team cover for their mistakes, but they are affecting millions of people watching their performance. Yes, they should EXPECT to get yelled at… I would because I yell at myself for making the teams I’m involved with cover for my mistakes. Yes, not only do I yell at the video games and sports people on television, but I actually yell at and abuse myself.

I hope you guys don’t think I like yelling at things that don’t talk back… I don’t exactly like it. It’s just something that is built into my emotional state of being. I like to yell at inanimate things because I believe they actually enjoy making me mad enough to do it. Why else do some of the most unbelievable things happen while I’m watching? I honestly believe that if I’m not watching, things are absolutely perfect and nothing goes wrong… but when I tune in or play the game, the entire world comes crashing down in front of me just to see how loud I can yell or how high I can make my blood pressure go.

Even though I recognize that these objects in my life simply cannot hear me, I will continue to express my dissatisfaction with them by yelling, screaming, and generally hating every lasting minute of their existence until they succumb to my every beck and call. So, television, I know I’m a bit crazy, but you will continue to hear my yells. Sports people… you also will continue to be berated by my maniacal tirades at your incompetence. And I haven’t even mentioned the tools in my life… they probably deserve their own article.

So, join me in my abuse of inanimate objects… let’s show them who the boss is! I’ll guarantee you that I’ll do my part!

In the past, candidates utilized gimmicks to get their name out amongst the masses, but as times change and new information avenues open up, new ways to spend money appears. No longer are large campaign signs featuring the latest memorable slogan or supporters walking around with t-shirts and signs stamped with their candidate’s name enough. No longer are stump speeches enough to get the policy stances out. No longer are debates the focus of differentiating the candidates running for President. No longer are we in a world where the focus of the campaign is on the actual policy stances and historical voting records of our candidates.

We have entered an age where the campaign for President has become a popularity contest. Never in my life had I ever witnessed a campaign for the most powerful office in the world run more like a high school prom king contest. The news media, television and print, spent more time bickering over such inane topics such as lipstick, hairdos, age, dresses, and just general non-essential subjects than ever before. Sure, some of the information is pertinent to the situation because we all want to “get to know” the candidate, but when there is an economic meltdown occurring while we are engaged in two foreign wars, I think there were better ways to spend our time.

Reports about how much Sarah Palin’s wardrobe cost came out before the election. Obama’s campaign flunkies continually focused upon the wardrobe of John McCain’s wife (which was mostly irrelevant considering her family fortune). Of course before Election Day, all we heard about the Obama campaign was how diverse his fund raising ability was and how much money he collected… over $600 million in his run for President.

Finally, we have some publicly available reports about how Obama’s campaign spent their money over the last few weeks of the campaign. It turns out that Obama spent over $147 million in the final weeks and the purchases would surprise some of you. According to the New York Daily News, Obama spent $4 million on Google advertising and an additional $9.4 million on online advertising, $4.4 million on print ads, and $62 million on television advertising. Also amongst the campaign purchases were 400,000 temporary Obama tattoos and payments to people like Jimmy Buffett and the remaining Grateful Dead band members for appearances and concerts.

In an historical first, Barack Obama even purchased a 30 minute television commercial which delayed the start of a World Series game. Obama even bought advertising in video games which will be seen forever. Barack Obama embraced the popularity contest and utilized his enormous campaign financing edge to win the office of President. McCain followed through on his promise to accept public financing which limits the total amount of money available for campaign spending but Obama reneged on his promise and chose private financing. His choice allowed him to generate over $600 million in contributions while McCain was limited to maybe 20% of that for his general election campaign.

As we have seen, Obama dominated the airwaves and advertising avenues by well over a three to one margin and his publicity stunts were effective in maintaining his lead throughout the election process. Turning our election process into a popularity contest is a major disservice to the American citizen. We should not be treated to a “purchased” politician running our country. We should be treated to a man who would run our country for free, and a campaign which focuses on the policies and direction of our country. I think the campaign for President should be 100% volunteer work and if elected, every cabinet official and advisor should work free from taxpayer provided money and assistance.

If that were the case, I would think we would have a much different political landscape because people would run for office that were true patriots and not power and money vultures. Work FOR the people who voted you in and NOT for those who financed your purchased seat in office.

Citation: http://www.nydailynews.com/

However, after a few of these “real” news items were exhausted, I was treated to “headline news” involving the impending divorce of Madonna from her husband, a report about a soldier’s dog returning home, and even a major story about a delayed Playstation game because of a music track within the game. I’ll be fair… CNN’s website actually lists the bulleted topics under their section labeled “Latest News.” While it’s not specifically labeled Headline News, it is in fact, their depiction of the most important, time sensitive information that the public needs to be informed about.

Maybe I’m being a bit too judgmental. Madonna’s divorce is a big deal to some even if I can’t name a single person that cares. Maybe her divorce is a story because there appears to be some issue between the two individuals revolving around Madonna’s belief in Kabbalah? Well, that would make it a story now wouldn’t it? It’s not “just” a divorce of a high profile celebrity. It’s a story about something that’s potentially charged with a newsworthy religious angle. The story about the soldier’s dog returning home? Well, news wouldn’t be news without at least one bullet point associated to our current war in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. No car bomb or civilian murders to report today? Let’s go with the feel good story then…

This brings me to the headline news bullet point of the Playstation game being delayed because of a musical track. Initially, you may think that it may have something to do with profanity or non-licensed material included, but you would be wrong. The issue revolves around a particular track that may offend Muslims. A musical track in the game contains words from the Islamic holy text, the Quran. Feeling the politically correct pressure, the game designer and distributor were forced to pull the product and delay the launch so they could remove the “offensive” track. Oh, now I get it. The delayed Playstation game receives headline news status because of the issue within… a potentially offensive musical track which “might” be offensive to Muslims.

Sometimes we are just trying too hard to be politically correct. While being overly correct, we are actually offending many. If our news agencies truly believe that headline status should be given to this particular subject matter, what are their angles? Most news today isn’t objective and is inherently biased by the conglomerate media giants. Given that ratings equal additional revenue, their reward is viewership and readership counts. They give a “best effort” at real news reporting, but they generally focus upon hot topic issues within society and not actual news. Let’s face it. “Real” news is boring when done correctly because it’s based upon facts and reported without sensationalistic undertones.

Knowing this, the media giants focus upon divisive issues and also hot point terms to instigate clicks, buys, and channel attention. We hear real news, but we don’t listen. When we hear hot button issues such as Kabbalah, Muslim/Islam, and Iraq, we listen. Some listen because they want to make sure their issue isn’t being treated negatively, others listen because they want the issue to be treated negatively, and others are just intrigued by the issue and want to know what all the fuss is about. Tell me honestly, are you more likely to listen to the Federal Reserve chairman testify about our economy or read about how much money Madonna’s husband may get in a settlement and find out how Kabbalah may be the root of their problems? One is intensely boring but very much headline news while the other is entertaining and not headline news but given the same status by the news agency. News is not news anymore. It’s an entertainment avenue.

Citation: http://www.cnn.com/

Not long ago, Today was fairly well respected and their hosts performed several pertinent interviews with heads of state, high ranking officials, and many other people who have impacted our country through the news. Now, we get interviews with socialites, actors promoting movies, authors promoting books, and just the general topic of the day or “National Enquirer” type news. This week, our country’s economic crisis has been the number one factor weighing on our collective conscience. On top of that, the final Presidential debate was scheduled and held midweek.

Well, I’ll give it to Today, they did interview the Treasury Secretary in a much needed look into the government’s stance on our economic condition… for all of about two minutes. What other pressing news relegated this particular interview to such a minimal effort? Try a “major event” involving one of the Flying Wallendas performing a death defying stunt live on The Today Show. I gave up counting the minutes attributed to this breaking news story which put to shame the importance of our economic crisis not to mention the Presidential debate later that evening.

I know television shows need ratings and there usually isn’t enough news to fill three hours of time with specific and important information. But, when did The Today Show become NBC’s version of E!? I’m sick and tired of actors hocking their latest movie on the show, listening to socialites speak about their lives, and hearing nonsense interviews with the latest 15 minutes of fame people. If The Today Show had access to the Treasury Secretary, they should have appropriated more time for such an important segment of the show. Sure, they gave the debate some minor attention, but just enough to say they did.

I guess I just have higher standards associated with The Today Show than they do for themselves. In the past, I remember Bryant Gumbel interviewing sitting Presidents, Prime Ministers, etc. I remember Katie Couric doing several important interviews. Matt Lauer has even had his fair share. However, for every one of those segments these days, we are treated with a multitude of interviews with Paris Hilton talking about her latest “funny or die” video. Or we are treated with an interview about the latest Harry Potter book. We are even given special access to gourmet chefs and cooks so we can work on some great recipes for our family.

How do these subjects fit together: interviews with heads of state, actor interviews pitching their latest movie, authors hocking their latest book, concerts featuring the latest music releases, record setting events, cooking segments, and general news reporting? That is the state of The Today Show these days. It’s a smorgasbord of bullet point information. I said information, not news.

If they want a “Regis and Kathie Lee” show, then do a talk show. Stop trying to keep the “rep” up by trying to look important with sparse amounts of important interviews which are given miniscule time segments. Maybe I’m expecting too much out of the show, but when you have the public’s attention and are given special access to important guests who have important information regarding critical issues, they should be given the primary time slots and catered too.

I’m still in awe that I know more about the Flying Wallendas than I do about what the Treasury Secretary is doing to help our country’s economic crisis. They had him in person, in an interview, and gave him two minutes… sad and with a complete lack of direction. The Today Show has deteriorated into the Oprah show of the morning.

Several pundits and reporters have been giving advice that only advocates fear and will contribute towards an economic downward spiral. Along with this alarmist type reporting, we are also seeing several conspiracy theory ideas sprout up. The psyche of our nation (and world) is primed and susceptible to “game changing” arguments. By that I mean people have been pushed so close to the edge that rather than reacting with a rational response, they are reacting irrationally because they are making decisions based upon speculation and fear of the unknown.

A game changing action is exactly what our governments are trying to accomplish as we are going through these hard times. All of the major economies of the world are continually trying to reestablish confidence in the global financial markets by acting as one. They have all reduced interest rates to try and restart lending. Most governments are providing and injecting vast quantities of money into their financial industries trying to rebuild the consumer confidence in the market. Nations are spending BILLIONS trying to make a game changing event. Their goal is to remove fear from the market and replace it with the confidence we have lost.

But, with alarmist reporting and conspiracy theories running wild, these events are being undermined because of the fearful and currently irrational reactions being made by our citizens of the world. If the average citizen continues to pull money from the banking institutions, sells off their stock purchases and dumps the money into money market accounts and even cash, and even begins to purchase gold and silver and other “real” investments, our economy will pay the price. There of course needs to be a reaction to our situation, nobody will allow their investments to simply go away with blind faith in the market, but an overreaction is just as bad.

Reporting that the end is near or that we are heading for governmental collapse or telling people to horde cash, food, water, etc is alarmist reporting which preys upon the citizens fearful of the situation. While we do need to be prepared at all times for major issues which could face us in our world, we should not overreact to situations without proper knowledge.

Have you ever been in an office where one person walked in grumpy, upset, or just generally angry? How did your office’s atmosphere turn out that day? It’s pretty likely that the office’s demeanor was not happy. The appearance of a single bad mood can affect an entire office’s mood… I’ve been there, I’m sure you’ve been there. Simple example, but what we are seeing here is on a much larger scale. Alarmist reporting is the bad mood entering the office. The bad mood is infecting the collective rationale of our country and rather than going away the next day, it’s perpetuating itself into everything we do, including our decision making.

If there is concrete information supporting the claims of the alarmist reporters, then yes, we need to know it. However, if it is just opinion, then it must be tempered accordingly and we should treat it as just a potential outcome and not THE outcome. We have become a nation and world of reactionary individuals waiting with bated breath as to what next “disaster” we will be subjected to. This state of living provides the alarmist reporters a fertile ground of minds to affect and thus, can effectively create significant outcomes based upon their statements.

As our markets continue the downward spiral, more and more of us are falling over the cliff and joining those who are already experiencing ultimate hardships. Our media airwaves are dominated by fear and scare mongering. Guest speaker after guest speaker keeps telling us what the problems are but that there is no real answer to fix the situation. Yes, we all know what the problems are which we are facing… we have a handle on that. The problem is for every minutes of airtime being given to these problem speakers, there is no answer to soothe the fears of the citizens listening.

Our President has repeatedly gone on national television in an effort to quell the fears and anxiety we are facing. He is trying to restore the confidence in the markets in an effort to loosen up the grip fear has upon our collective psyche. It isn’t wishes or hopes to fix our fear, it’s is a must. If fear is allowed to roam free amongst us at an ever increasing rampage while destroying our confidence level, our financial markets will not only continue their freefall, they will ultimately collapse under the pressure being exerted by fear and anxiety speculation.

Along with fear and anxiety, comes volatility. It’s readily apparent as you watch our stock market tumble hundreds of points only to recover and then plummet minutes later. People are consumed with fear at this point in time. People are being told to pull their money from banks and store up cash because credit cards may become worthless in the near future. Cash is king and is the most liquid. It helps keep the demon of fear at bay. However, what if every American family heeded this “advice” and promptly removed $500 or $1,000 or more from their bank, or sold off their stocks to place into simple interest bearing accounts?

The answer to that question is complete financial market breakdown. You may think what we are going through is terrible at this juncture, but if people begin hording cash, the issues we face aren’t even the tip of the iceberg in that scenario. While we must live our lives prudently and rearrange our investments into those that will secure our financial stability, we must not let panic and fear rule our investing decisions. The fundamentals of many companies are still strong, but their prices have lowered due to the stock market instability and sell offs. The old adage of “buy low, sell high” applies here. Several dominant companies are well within affordability these days and they should be targets of the savvy investor.

Rather than feed the fear monster our media and country have allowed to grow into a giant sized financial hurricane within our markets, we must focus on how can we act rationally in this situation. Rational is not using your mattress as your bank account. Rational is not selling out of your investments and walking away with a pittance of your previous wealth. Rational is not seizing up your life as things get hard. Yes, we must make alternative choices and decisions, but we cannot allow the demon of fear rule our lives or we will only fuel its power.

No, we cannot live the way we were, we know that. But, we can live rationally well within our means while making rational choices. Our country is currently acting irrationally and allowing outside influences alter choices without understanding the overall consequences of the actions. Media must temper what they are saying because people are easily led to irrational decisions when fear is clouding judgment and decision making. The outlets telling people to pull their cash out and store it are perpetuating the disaster we are feeding. They are allowing it to grow. Be careful in your decision making and make sure you are doing things rationally because they are sound decisions based on rock solid information and not determined by fear and volatility. Rational thinking MUST return to our markets and until then, consumer confidence will continue to decline along with our markets.

The only thing I know about fashion is that you’re not supposed to wear white after Labor Day. Not exactly sure what exact piece of clothing they are talking about, so I just assume white is out for everything, hats, shirts, pants, and shoes. Better to be safe than sorry right? I wouldn’t want to be seen as someone lacking fashion sense now would I? Trends are necessary though, otherwise, we would all be wearing the same clothes we were 10 years ago, or even 20, or 30. We could even be wearing the clothes our grandparents were wearing if we didn’t change our tastes and trends. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t enjoy wearing what they wore, not to mention if we all were wearing garments from the 1970’s…

Who establishes the trends which impacts our clothes wearing behavior? Segments of society have a great deal of power creating trends. These segments are catered to by the fashion industry and as they grow, different trends are injected into the mainstream. Bikers, country clubbers, musical genres (rap, rock, country, etc), moms, young adults, and the list could continue forever. Remember the “grunge” period of fashion in the 1990’s? That trend came to us via the music scene of alternative rock. Today, we have the “baggy” fashion which has been brought to us by the rap community.

Baggy used to be exclusive to wearing oversized clothing. However, now baggy has gone to the point where clothes are literally hanging off of people. Pants are left hanging on for dear life as underwear is prominently exposed. I’m sure you’ve seen it. Oversized pants barely stay up which forces the individual into constantly “tugging” on them to keep them from turning into ankle weights. Oh, and the pants aren’t shorter so the remains of the pants are always under the person’s feet so they are actually walking on the lower portion turning them into frayed ends of shaggy looking hand-me-downs.

I’m one for feeling comfortable, but the baggy trend has gone a bit too far in my opinion. Since when was it considered “trendy” to show your behind to the public on purpose and walk around on your pants? There was a fantastic invention from years gone by that alleviated such issues. If memory serves, I believe it’s called a belt.

Saturday Night Live featured a performer who chooses this trend as his fashion statement. Corporate executives for NBC were “worried” about his appearance mostly due to his musical content, but also his attire. Lorne Michaels, producer of SNL, went on record and said, “I’m not saying you should wear yours that way, but clearly it’s our job to set trends.” My question, is it really the job of SNL, or television for that matter, to set fashion trends? If so, then no wonder why our younger generations are wearing such attire and believing it to be “trendy.”

Trends used to involve making clothes better looking, more comfortable, or better suited for a particular event. Today, fashion sense is more about making statements. Do we need our society following trends “set” by mainstream media? If someone really believes wearing pants below the butt while walking on the pants legs makes them look good or fashionable, I would like to see their IQ score and compare it to that of a lemming.

Allowing mainstream media to set our trends is one avenue they effectively utilize in an effort to “control” the general public. A large portion of that control involves money. Fashion trends change from year to year, or even month to month, meaning wardrobes must change. Media receives the majority of their revenue from advertising and as they “set” trends, purchasing behavior is thus influenced creating a “need” for advertisers to showcase products. The lemmings are in line to follow the lead of someone trying to control their money. Since “fashion” these days is about making statements rather than making clothes look good and comfortable, money is at the root of these so-called trends. Do some homework, how many of these “trend setter” acts have their own clothing lines?

Given the ability to easily obtain information, shouldn’t our society actually be well informed? Common sense would of course say yes, but are we? Are we actually utilizing the tools we have been given to become an informed citizen? The Internet has been widely available now for almost 20 years, cable television has been around for over 30 years, and CNN was established in 1980. Some of the tools have been around for 30 plus years. Our 2006 United States census data reports that over 50% of our nation’s 300 million citizens are age 39 or less. But, let’s give some credit to some of the older folk for being adept enough to learn new technology. Moving on up to 59 and younger, the percentage becomes almost 83%. To be safe, we’ll throw out the 14 and under group so that gives us a percentage of about 63% of Americans between the age of 15 and 59. Almost two-thirds of our society has had access and the ability to effectively utilize the new informational tools within our grasp.

Now that we have some concrete information to apply our common sense methodology to, we should expect to see an acceptable percentage reflecting an informed society shouldn’t we? Well, common sense is usually right, but we must never underestimate the apathy of our society. Recent surveys and reports display some alarming traits regarding how “informed” our society actually is. Since we are in the midst of a Presidential election campaign, we’ll focus on politics. A recent survey, done every two years recently released their latest results determining where people get their news and how much they are informed. The survey asked three simple questions, “Identify the party controlling Congress (Democratic Party), identify who the Secretary of State is (Condoleezza Rice), and identify the new Prime Minister of Great Britain (Gordon Brown).” I know, not everyone is intricately involved with politics, but these three questions aren’t like asking who the vice president of our 14^th President was.

The national average for their study resulted in an astounding 18% correct… yes, only 18%. The Colbert Report and The Daily Show, two political COMEDY programs, came in at 34% and 30% correct. Daily newspapers came in at a very unrespectable 22% while CNN respondents beat the national average by a whopping 1%, reaching 19% on the informed meter. What does this exactly say about our society? Are we informed at all? Does society now, with the ability to gain knowledge easier than any society or generation before us, use the tools available to us or do we simply plod along, with very little knowledge relating to our world? The survey seems to suggest that the vast majority of Americans fail to utilize the tools given to us and are simply moving along, quite happily, without knowing much. 18%, seriously… On top of that, two comedy shows obliterate several serious news avenues?

Another survey displays similarly alarming trends regarding news and information our society is receiving. This particular study reported 19% of people are “going newsless.” That percentage is up 5% since 2008. That is a trend very much proceeding in the wrong direction. Also within the report, newspaper readership has declined by 24% since 1993 including a drop of 13% since 2000. Radio, local network news, and nightly news have shown similar declines. Online news readership has increased from 2% to 37% in the meantime. However, don’t get too excited, the reports says that online gains are being outpaced by the declines in print readership so there is actually a net loss of about 3%. Digging into the demographics of the report, it shows the younger generations are going “newsless.” Between 1998 and 2008, the age group 18-24 saw a 9% increase in “newsless” responders. The age group 25-29 increased by 4% and 30-34 by 7%. The very people being raised with every information tool imaginable are choosing NOT to use them. We wonder why the national average above was only 18%…

Our society has long been characterized by apathy. Not only concerning voting habits, but every single life habit. We have become a society that has become satisfied in our current position. We are not effectively utilizing the greatest tools we have ever known to advance our knowledge and position. Our nation has become a society of settlers. Everyone likes to tout the idea that America is number one, but is anyone putting any action behind that sentiment? A few do and they succeed with hard work and determination. The rest of us seem to be complacent and willing to ride the coattails of those who drive our nation forward. The amount of coattails to ride is decreasing rapidly. Without individuals pushing our country forward, we will continue to stagnate and become more apathetic until everyone pays the price. These surveys are just a few sets of data displaying our country’s apathy. We must turn the tide and begin to use the tools available to us to move our country forward. Information is king and it is the key to success but if we do not use the tools, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Citation: Pew Survey on News Consumption & Government Census Data & http://people-press.org/

We are all subject to a certain level of mind control. Whether it is spoken words, print media, or television, media has always grasped the fact that our minds are available for potential direction and cajoling. Throw in our needs to fit in and we have created a fertile ground for the seeds of control to grow. Most of the time, the controlling nature of media is very subtle. The goal is to “train” us over time and generate a predicted outcome from society. However, there are times when immediate action is sought after. This is where we see extremists in our media “pushing our buttons.” Provocative reports, fear mongering, and violence on television provide the necessary means for pushing the public in certain directions.

Think about it, how do you react to certain cues when you are watching television, listening to the radio, or reading a book? I’m sure there are times that you feel the absolute need to immediately say something to someone. Media is looking for a reaction, they are counting upon it. Sometimes, you may even decide to change the channel, turn the station, or just stop reading a certain book. You may even walk away from a public speech if you are so inclined. This is the process of “weeding out” people who are not agreeable to certain cues. The remaining public however is what they are looking for. They now have a receptive audience who they can utilize additional mind control techniques on. Mind control within the formation of a small society.

Do you know of any societies such as these? I’m sure you do, they exist in our everyday lives and come in all shapes and sizes. There are groups that become quite large and can exact pressure at our highest levels of government. Our two political parties are an example of mind controlling methods at work. Through print, television, and other forms of media, they create a community of “like minded” individuals and work towards adding more to their group. Originally, the intent was to work towards achieving what was best for the country and everyone within it. Now, the goal seems to have become a race for power and money and not necessarily what is best for the individual voters.

Everyone is susceptible to various forms of mind control. It’s in our human nature. Knowing this, we have to be wary of the intent behind what is going on around us and we must ask ourselves if we are truly making up our own mind or are we being led down a predetermined path designed by the media? We will still be affected by our environment, but we can limit the effectiveness of the tools being used against us.

Personally, I try and fight the methods of control by choosing to experience multiple viewpoints. I do not stick to watching a certain news channel. I don’t read a specific author and similar agreeable content. I listen to alternate viewpoints. I do this on purpose, even if the content infuriates me. I have made a choice to open my mind’s horizons by doing such things. Too often, groups of people choose to disregard anything that could possibly be opposite of how they think and they are falling into a trap. They are falling into the mind controlling tools of their society. Without experiencing opposite viewpoints, the mind will only continue down the path of what is known, until some enlightening experience should come along. We’ve all seen it. Groups of people become like each other over time. Why else would parents want to make sure we keep our kids away from the “bad apples?”

To go back to books being a mind control object similar to television, we are missing one important aspect of television when compared to books. Television comes with instant visual and sound cues along with the content. Books require the mind to create the environment within. The simple fact of television displaying the environment to us desensitizes us to our environment. Viewing violence and bad behavior carries with it a much more profound effect upon us than reading and creating a fictional world in our minds. Yes, television is mostly fiction, but society places undue emphasis on the television “reality.” We speak of television as if it were real, we assume because it’s on television, people act that way and it’s acceptable. Television infiltrates millions more of our minds than a single book designed for mind control could ever hope to achieve.

Television is a ubiquitous medium that affects everyone. Reading is limited to those who choose to read. Usually, the people choosing to read are more adept at distinguishing mind control tools. People who read are statistically proven to be on average smarter than those who do not. The general concept of mind control can be thought of as simple “gang mentality.” Focus on the weaker individuals, give them something to grasp onto, and create a community of likeminded individuals. Gangs are the epitome of mind control at work.

In summing up, sure, books can be devices of mind control. But to think books are at the same level of mind control as television is incorrect in my opinion. Television creates a fictional “reality” which people place value upon. Books create a fictional world inside the mind of the individual and this world will be vastly different from reader to reader. Television desensitizes our society where books generally expand our knowledge (yes, even fiction). We can create road blocks to mind control techniques the media uses by making appropriate choices in how we interpret our environment. We must also open our minds to alternative viewpoints or we will risk walking the path like the lemmings they want and believe us to be.

Not to demean professors of philosophy, but generally speaking, the subject matter lacks a sense of excitement. Yes, I mean it’s boring. I instituted a personal goal requiring that I finish this book. I started it and that means I have to finish it, at all costs. So, I weathered the droopy eyelids, the constant mind wanderings to what else I could be doing with my time, and the endless looks forward to see how many pages until the chapter end. I finished the book. Yes, I became enlightened as I had imagined I would when I procured this book from the bookstore. However, it was an enlightenment I did not expect. Given that Seinfeld was a comedic sitcom known for their outrageous takes on daily life, I was expecting a light hearted, funny look at life, while applying some philosophical theories. Well, I did get that… minus the funny.

I’ve never been one to read a chapter or two at the bookstore to determine if I should purchase the book or try and “rent” it from the library, but this book has opened that realm of possibility for me. The book wasn’t “all” bad (boring). Of the 14 chapters, three or four were in the range from entertaining to even bearable, the other 10, not so much so. While it’s always a fun lesson to apply scholarly teachings to subjects we enjoy, sometimes it just doesn’t work too well. Comparing Jerry Seinfeld, the character, to Socrates? Wondering what Aristotle would have thought about George? Determining if Elaine exhibited the philosophical traits of feminism? You get the idea. Not funny. Yes, it could have been, even with the above questions, but the “professional” philosophers were actually analyzing Seinfeld in a philosophical distillation of actions and thought.

Enough with the “book review,” what does Peterman have to do with any of this? J. Peterman, an interesting character from Seinfeld, is a focal point of one of the more interesting essays in the book. Pulling a quote from Seinfeld, Peterman states “Clearly, people want things that make their lives the way they wish they were.” While Peterman the character, truly believes this to be true, is it true in our lives on this side of the television screen? His statement is a great philosophical statement because it offers a point of view into our own actions and thoughts. Are we trying to live a life we wish we were or are we satisfied with the life we have?

America has long been at odds with satisfaction. Are we ever satisfied? If we were satisfied, would we be wishing for a better life? Do you know anyone who is satisfied with their station in life or is everyone always focused on the next step to supposed happiness? Satisfaction in our country has been placed on equal footing as surrender, settling, or giving up. Why should we want to stay the same if there is always something more out there? That something more could make us even MORE happy right? So, as millions of us trudge along in pursuit of the life we wish we were living, satisfaction will ultimately elude us. More often than not, our lives equate any amount of satisfaction to immediate gratification. It has no lasting impact on our lives.

I admit that I look towards the future in search of the next hurdle to surpass on my way to “satisfaction.” While focusing on this next hurdle, how are you applying yourself in your current day to day life? Are you 100% living each day or are you living for tomorrow? Are you wishing your time and life away for a sense of who you wish to be in the future? When and if that time comes, can you truly admit to yourself that you will become instantly satiated and your life you have wished for will become your “real” life? More than likely you cannot. We are trained to want more, be more successful, gain more power, accrue more wealth, etc.

Peterman’s simple statement is a magnifying glass we can utilize to analyze our own lives. We are constantly wanting (or some may say needing) things in our lives to make our lives the way we wish they were. The American environment has destroyed the ideology of contentment. Satisfaction can almost never be truly achieved. We are constantly struggling in our pursuits to acquire “things” that will theoretically make our lives better. In reality, we are all searching for our own fairy tale. The truth that the fairy tale is impossible to grasp escapes us.

I believe we can be truly satisfied. There are those among us who live a life of contentment. They are the true torch bearers of happiness. They no longer want things to make their lives the way they wish they were. Their lives are exactly how they WANT them to be. Satisfaction is a true philosophical state many of us can never achieve because we cannot let go of wishing for something we are not. I still find myself wishing but more and more, as the years pass through the hourglass, I am finding that contentment and satisfaction are what I am “wishing” for. No longer are the things I find myself wishing for, tangible objects to satisfy my fairy tale of life. I wish for a state of true satisfaction and contentment. Will you join me or will you still be wishing as the twilight enters your life?