Giants

Do you become frustrated on occasions where you feel that there is nothing that you can do as our nation and our society heads, full steam, into the abyss, all the while knowing full well that our children, if things do not change, will not have the freedoms and liberties that we have had, may not live in an America that is able to defend itself against enemies and may be forced to worship at the altar of the state? Do you feel that there is little that you can do to help, apart from your vote? If so, I suspect that you are in a very large club and I submit to you that there is something that you can do, something that has great potential for changing the course our nation is on! You won't be impressed when I tell you what it is for at first glance it appears to be an insignificant goal but I submit to you that if it were to even come close to becoming law it would set in motion a holy crusade against it by those who would see in it the potential of chains falling off their prisoners, of control being lost over the rabble and of a sleeping Giant Despair being awakened. With all the technological advances that we have to contend with, television remains our chief source of news and our primary entertainment, and its usage is increasing. Every foreign enemy of America that exists at this time views the American malaise as its ally. With our entertainment driven life and subsequent inability and downright disinterest in sorting through the issues of the day beyond a nod of the head to two or three sentences from Katie Couric, Diane Sawyer or Brian Williams, we are proving ourselves to be a feeble, irresolute people, easily manageable as long as our interests are subservient to our libido instead of defending our liberty. Television is at the forefront of a host of entertainments that are more value to our enemies than, as Winston Churchill might say, a hundred divisions of soldiers. The next time that you turn television on, please analyze what you are seeing. Consider the research that must have been done by those amassing fortunes in how best to hold viewers to their ignoble fascinations, drain their minds and nullify any concerns they might have for their own safety and the security of their nation, all the while knowing that if the envelope of newer and more deplorable programming is not continually pushed, the trance might be broken. Consider also the human mind and try to envision the person whose highlight of the day is a Modern Family, then weigh the enormous problems besetting our nation. Consider the effect of the occult, the violence, the banality, the American Idol mentality and the "mature content" from their "babysitters" most recently Glee and Skins on our children. Consider God's warning on where we should not lead our children. Finally, consider that your cable channels are "bundled." You, if you subscribe at present, are forced to support these barbarians within our gates. There is an answer! You can be part of it. If we are given choice in what programming our money will go to, it will be the beginning of the end of the mogul's hold on the collective American mind. There are multitudes in America who value God, family and country but are more often than not confounded as in what to do. Given this choice they will make the right one and in short order it will become noticeable that Americans are waking up to the realities before us and we will see improvement in all of our choices from politics to our entertainments, to what we purchase, to what we save, to what we invest (both money and time) in, to the questions that we ask and the answers we give to questions asked of us.. The audience that chooses to stay in bondage will shrink. If only a few indomitable of spirit in Congress take hold of this concept of a la carte cable, a firestorm will arise from opponents of choice in television! This in itself will expose how important this is to those who will see their hold on the American public beginning to give way. So you indeed can do something, for every voice will be heard in these initial stages of this effort. This is a snowball sitting atop a mountain that if given a push will turn into an avalanche. There was an article in yesterday's The Guardian newspaper from Britain titled Social Networking under fresh attack as tide of cyber-skepticism sweeps US. It mentions six books in America that are giving a warning that cyber-space has the potential to rule our lives, three of these books have been reviewed in this blog and a fourth, Sherry Turkle's Alone Together I'm starting to read right now.  I've written quite a few times on my extreme concern about Facebook. Aside from the grand waste of time and feeding frenzy of narcissism, the company is growing in more ways than just users. Most recently Goldman Sachs was in the position to offer investment opportunities up to $1.5 billion and, at the last  minute, decided to offer this only to non-US investors. My concern is that once addictedd to Facebook in so many areas of our lives, that this company can then, in effect, guide us in where to get our information. This latest turn to foreign investment brings us closer to the world of un-American philosophies and Russia has more than taken advantage of these investment opportunities. At present, Mark Zuckerberg and his associates call the shots in his company but a day may be near where he has to cede decision making to the major investors. Cyber-space and cable television are a one-two punch to the American way of life, the American Creed, to freedom and liberty itself. Social Networking is a monster and bundled cable television is a dungeon and its keeper "Giant Malaise" feeds us its potions of entertainment, violence, mayhem and wonder-lust every morning, afternoon and evening. As John Bunyan's "Giant Despair" saw its demise in his marvelous book Pilgrim's Progress, so can we rend this new giant impotent by severing the lock it has on us through cable television! My first blog, in November of 2008, was on this topic of a la carte cable and a number of blogs since then. If but one candidate for President in 2012 has the prescience to see that this issue has great potential to stir a public already boiling over an insurmountable debt, then a major obstacle, albeit just one, of regaining our discernment can be hurdled.