I was talking with a friend the other day and he said something that struck me as funny. We were both talking about our experiences with paid Television and why we quit it years ago. The modern name for this is “Cutting the Cord”. We both cut the cord from TV for different reason. Mine was mainly “Children don’t need to see this crap!” and he was concerned about “Zoning out”. It’s called Television programming for a reason. Anyway his conclusion about the high cost of Television cable is funny. You pay an enormous bill for it. Then your wondering why it’s so expensive so you set out to get your moneys worth! You turn it on and flip endless channels looking for something worth watching. Sure you may find a show that is what your looking for. Then it’s interrupted for some commercials.
It’s my opinion if everyone just canceled their Television cable today. By Monday it would be free. Why? Because the powers that be NEED to get into your homes to tell you how to think! They have devised a way to do just that and your paying them to do it! It’s that simple.
I cut the cord and switched to Netfix in the 90’s. No commercials. I pick what to watch and when.
I was unable to banter at the water cooler anymore so socially I paid a price. At the same time I was able to see things other were unable to realize. When the Television news went crazy on a subject like it was the end of the world. Twenty four hour seven days a week coverage of a subject on all news stations I was completely immune. I had to counter the ramblings of people on these subjects or be forced to debate something that is insignificant and just being blown up by the media. I just say “this too shall pass” or “Do you know what Washington D.C. passed while this was in the news?”
The fact is the average cable bill in the United States is a whopping $1,476 a year. It’s an easy place to save a fortune.
Even though I unplugged from Television I still maintained an internet connection and Netflix so I didn’t completely cut the chord. I would have but I have a family and I may have had a mutiny on my hands. I also needed the internet for work.
Another interesting thing is people for some reason talk about commercials. I didn’t know this was a thing until they try to talk to me about them. “Did you see that commercial about….” “No sorry I only have Netflix and I don’t see commercials.” “OK...” with emphasis on your strange.
I only watch maybe an hour of Netflix a day late at night. This leaves me with more time some parts of the year. I like to spend my time being productive so I started taking classes online. I attended classes at Stanford, Second Life (which was hacked and ruined by a copy item glitch) Udemy, and Khan Academy. I hear all of MIT’s classes are online now as well.
The point I am making is if you unplug you will have more time for yourself because your not trying to get your moneys worth out of lifeless Television programming. Reduce the amount of marketing you see each day. Save a lot of money. Be less likely to be programmed with other peoples ideas. You also get to be socially handicapped at the water cooler conversations. Win win!