kfl%mx.lcs.mit.edu@MC.LCS.MIT.EDU (08/06/86)
[ Having spent several years in front of both (and books), I find
that there is value in TV, you just have to go looking for it ...
I don't have infinite time. I have to pick and choose. I choose
not to watch TV (or listen to the radio (except for music and late
breaking news)) because:
1) I can read much faster than people speak. Spoken english is mostly
useful for talking with another person, not for one way or recorded
communication.
2) The FCC has decided that the First Amendment doesn't apply to TV
and radio stations. Thus many viewpoints get weeded out. There
are libertarian (and socialist) magazines. There are no
libertarian (or socialist) radio or TV stations. I don't know
quite how the FCC has gotten away with this amazing coup.
While initially negative about your 'voluntary contribution'
assertion, I wonder: every year newspapers have stories about
needy families, and these people are virtually buried in
contributed food and clothing. Maybe so, maybe so...
Charity is a multi-billion dollar industry.
It doesn't really make sense to me to say that people will not
voluntarily donate to a cause but will vote for people who will force
them to donate. Do most people think that the cause is worth donating
to or don't they?
'Arming the peasants' is an attractive idea, but the social
effects could be staggering.
This was one of the main principles behind the American Revolution.
Look at the Second Amendment.
I am not sure when or how it got sidetracked.
The old slogan "an armed society is a friendly one" may hold, but
some inner-city neighborhoods may become literally free-fire zones
(those that aren't already, that is).
I think that if someone intends to use a gun for robbery and murder,
a law against gun ownership isn't going to deter them much.
We may bring Beirut to us...
The problem with Beirut isn't that people are armed, but that there
is essentially no enforcement of laws against murder, kidnapping, etc.
A better example of a heavily armed citizenry is Switzerland.
Lastly, concerning the assertion made a while back (v6 #25) that
selling drugs should be legalized: what penalty (if any) for
selling drugs to minors? -CWM]
The same as the current penalty for selling alcohol to minors. I am
not aware of any drug more dangerous than alcohol, unless it's
tobacco. And I have never heard of a drug more addictive than
tobacco. People who have quit both heroin and tobacco have told me
that quitting heroin was much easier.
...Keith
[ Well, lets start at the top: I choose to watch TV because 1) visual
stories (e.g. movies, adventure dramas - which I have an unaccountable
weakness for) can often tell more faster than books, and with greater
impact (there are lousy books, too, y'know); 2) regardless of the
general poor quality of TV news, I can get quick exposure to stories
of the day through channels like CNN and the late lamented SNC; 3) I
can get movies without commercials on one of the three movie channels
I subscribe to. (You may argue that this isn't "TV" - but it sure
comes in on that thing I call a TV). Further, its something I can do
and hack at the same time (don't ask me how, it just is). I read all
day at work off of *this* silly bloody tube... I don't look for TV to
give me political reality, just movies and an occasional political
viewpoint I am free to discard (for this I am partial to "The
McLaughlin Group" - a real band of zanies if ever there were some).
There is a terrible view that people will believe whatever appears on
the screen (most often held by those whose opinion is not broadcast in
prime-time). You want your views sent out? Pay the money. Buy the
commercial time.
I am personally in favor of allowing anyone who wants to own a gun
to do so. However, I point out that if everyone were to own a gun,
and since a very small minority have any real notion of how to use one
(and the judgement to know when to use one), things could get a little
flakey. That's all. I doubt that another American Revolution will
result from an armed citizenry. Shotguns don't do well against a B-52
strike (i.e. our government will always have bigger guns).
Lastly, waving your hands and saying, "well, cigarettes are bad
too" is not an answer. Personally, I would much rather see a 12 year
old smoking a cigarette than shooting heroin (the best thing, of
course, is to see a 12 year old doing neither). Same goes for a 19
year old. Smoking cigarettes is dumb, yes, but you won't get
hepatitis from a dirty cigarette, and you can't get a 'bad batch' of
cigarettes. - CWM]
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