What has happened to American society?

If you really want to change the world you have to start with yourself. Stop watching TV is a good start. All of it including the news is just a big suck to sell you junk consumer goods. If fouls your mind with needless fears and desires and takes you out of the here and now and puts you into a never land of bs. It's an addiction that is hard to break but turn to your own creativity and imagination. Read books, write, make stuff, learn something you've always wanted to learn, follow your dreams, grow your own food, build something, learn to play an instrument, write down your dreams, write a letter, draw something. Let the other guy worry about him or herself. Just take yourself away from the crap and be somebody.

 

This pretty much makes my point for me. Can you imagine one anonymous person saying that to another anonymous person in the 60's?

Although poor health puts me in front of the TV more than I'd prefer (kinda hard to read with a migraine, and I eventually get bored looking at the inside of my eyelids while my head plays bad reggae beats), I'm fairly immune to the capitalistic seduction. I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about the legions of children who grow up with all these bad influences, making them ... well, making them think exchanges like the quote above (and, in fairness, the previous post that caused it) are the way human beings should associate with one another.

 

Bad chi comes from all over. Not just television. It's up to us whether or not to let it remain as part of our being. We can watch the news to make sure we know what's up, and then meditate for awhile to relax and let go of the emotion it brings. We can shop in the supermarket and then take the crap home and do what we can to turn it into something healthy. We can go online and make a conscious choice to be in something that helps us learn or grow. But, when it comes to the video games, well, no way around it, they're just plain useless. Maybe they can help alittle bit with dexterity skills or reaction time. Even then, they'd still be only useful to those who need that sort of therapy. That's just my oppinion.

 

It's a kind of entertainment, just like most movies, or a boardgame or a book. Is reading a (fictional) book useless, or entertainment? Not all videogames contain violence by the way.