This just frosts me. TV reception is now an entitlement? Noooooooo! And my resentment is not just because we're a tv-less household, though we have been, by choice, for ten years. Heck, The Ancient and Venerables use a set of glorified rabbit ears on what I'm sure is an old analog tv, so they'll either have to get cable or get a converter, but ON THE PUBLIC DOLLAR?? Since when is the telly so vital that it's my job to make sure my neighbor has it? God help me, this is wrong in so many ways -- let's look at just a couple, shall we?
First: We're not talking about life's essentials here. TV is, at best, a mixed blessing. Sure there's some worthwhile programming, but it's swimming in a sea of crap. Cable is better, hundreds of flavors of crap, but we're not even talking about that -- we're talking local network-affiliate airwaves. And this is now an entitlement. WTF?
Second: Sure. You bought a telly, and now Uncle Sam -- not market forces, not obsolescence, but the almighty gummint -- is going to take away it's functionality; not break it, or take away the equipment, but necessitate the one-time purchase of a techno-fix. Therefore, I will now be forced to pay for the patch? But wait! I have a diesel pickup. I'm sure I need my ability to drive at least as much as you need to watch your telly. A couple of years age, Uncle Sam decreed that all on-road diesel had to be ultra-low sulfur. Now -- for the first time in like, ever? -- diesel actually costs more than gas! If I want to run my F-250 powerstroke, I have to pay more, lots more, and not just once, but every time I fill 'er up! So why don't you have to pay the difference? Wouldn't that be fair?
Well, duh!
Of course it's a matter of personal choice and personal responsibility. Driving my beloved behemoth is a choice; the cost of fueling it is my responsibility. Rotting your gelatinous grey matter with local programming is your choice; and, by Gumby, the cost of keeping the electromagnetic opium supply flowing into your living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc. should be your responsibility!
I'd almost forgotten how much this latest entitlement program pissed me off. I'm used to getting plundered for my neighbors' "needs" -- e.g. we homeschool, but pay ever higher property taxes for ever larger and fancier schools; we fence our livestock properly, protecting our watershed from runoff, but subsidize new fencing, ponds, and watering systems for slobs who let their animals wallow in the creeks; we bought super-efficient appliances, solar equipment, etc., when we moved out here to the clearcut ten years ago, but we were way ahead of the curve and missed all the tax breaks! What brought this latest insult back on radar was the spate of fines that are being assessed by the FCC. They claim that Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, etc. have continued to sell analog equipment to unsuspecting buyers. The retailers say this is horse hockey, that on the contrary, they've pulled their analog stock and have been actively marketing both converters and digital equipment. I believe them -- regulations and fines aside, it's just a matter of good business sense. But even if they were selling analog sets, this may be horrible of me, but whatever happened to caveat emptor??? Heck, there might even be someone who would just love to pick up a cheap analog, maybe a bigger screen than they'd ever dreamed of owning, then screw me out of $40 for a converter!
First: We're not talking about life's essentials here. TV is, at best, a mixed blessing. Sure there's some worthwhile programming, but it's swimming in a sea of crap. Cable is better, hundreds of flavors of crap, but we're not even talking about that -- we're talking local network-affiliate airwaves. And this is now an entitlement. WTF?
Second: Sure. You bought a telly, and now Uncle Sam -- not market forces, not obsolescence, but the almighty gummint -- is going to take away it's functionality; not break it, or take away the equipment, but necessitate the one-time purchase of a techno-fix. Therefore, I will now be forced to pay for the patch? But wait! I have a diesel pickup. I'm sure I need my ability to drive at least as much as you need to watch your telly. A couple of years age, Uncle Sam decreed that all on-road diesel had to be ultra-low sulfur. Now -- for the first time in like, ever? -- diesel actually costs more than gas! If I want to run my F-250 powerstroke, I have to pay more, lots more, and not just once, but every time I fill 'er up! So why don't you have to pay the difference? Wouldn't that be fair?
Well, duh!
Of course it's a matter of personal choice and personal responsibility. Driving my beloved behemoth is a choice; the cost of fueling it is my responsibility. Rotting your gelatinous grey matter with local programming is your choice; and, by Gumby, the cost of keeping the electromagnetic opium supply flowing into your living room, bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, etc. should be your responsibility!
I'd almost forgotten how much this latest entitlement program pissed me off. I'm used to getting plundered for my neighbors' "needs" -- e.g. we homeschool, but pay ever higher property taxes for ever larger and fancier schools; we fence our livestock properly, protecting our watershed from runoff, but subsidize new fencing, ponds, and watering systems for slobs who let their animals wallow in the creeks; we bought super-efficient appliances, solar equipment, etc., when we moved out here to the clearcut ten years ago, but we were way ahead of the curve and missed all the tax breaks! What brought this latest insult back on radar was the spate of fines that are being assessed by the FCC. They claim that Best Buy, Wal-Mart, Circuit City, etc. have continued to sell analog equipment to unsuspecting buyers. The retailers say this is horse hockey, that on the contrary, they've pulled their analog stock and have been actively marketing both converters and digital equipment. I believe them -- regulations and fines aside, it's just a matter of good business sense. But even if they were selling analog sets, this may be horrible of me, but whatever happened to caveat emptor??? Heck, there might even be someone who would just love to pick up a cheap analog, maybe a bigger screen than they'd ever dreamed of owning, then screw me out of $40 for a converter!
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