TV is Dead: Long Live TV!

For a decade or so when I was young, I didn’t have a television machine. It wasn’t because I have a philosophical argument with mass media – I don’t. In fact, I’ve always been one of the cheerleaders – even back then. Nor was it merely a sign of the times; despite popular mythology, even the most dedicated hippies of the Stoned Age watched television. My situation was simple economics. I couldn’t afford one in university, and it just got to be a habit. As a result, I have no burning nostalgia for the days of Everybody Loves Friends TV. To me, network television was just another brick in the media’s mind-numbing wall. So, it’s with no emotion whatsoever that I can report the imminent death of television, and unlike Mark Twain’s premature demise, this is no exaggeration.

Let me clarify. I’m not saying that those shiny screens we’ve got all over the place are going to follow the dinosaurs into extinction. Absolutely not. Actually; I think we’re going to accumulate even more. They’re going to get bigger. They’re going to get smaller. They’re going to be everywhere; and soon it’ll be impossible to escape their reflected glow. But they’re not going to be the kind of television anybody born in the 20^th century remembers. Those times are gone and soon to be forgotten.

Way back in the day, when Milton Berle and Lucille Ball ruled the airwaves like media admirals, television was structured the same way as radio. There were local programs of regional interest, but the national news and hardcore entertainment was provided by the networks. We lived in a one-size-fits-all culture back then, and the whole family watched TV – together. So when Lucy had “some ‘splaining to do” on Monday night, literally millions of people saw her do it and got the joke. Network television built its power from those numbers and the massive advertising revenue they generated. It was a lucrative arrangement, and TV to you and me was free.

Then along came cable. Suddenly, media moguls discovered that the public would pay for television. What a novel idea! Cable TV became the value-added medium that radio never had been. People were willing to shell out substantial bucks for a few extra beyond-the-rabbit-ears channels and consistent sound and picture quality. Within a couple of years, North America was wired up and life was good in media land.

Then along came Ted Turner, a guy who made a billion dollar career out of thinking outside the box. In the early 70s, he figured out that the huge advertising dollars the big three networks were generating was simply a numbers game. He knew that if he could broadcast his local station, WTCG, nationally, like the networks did through their affiliates, he could produce those numbers also and the ad revenue they generated. Unfortunately, Ted didn’t have a network, or any affiliates or even very much money. However, Ted realized he didn’t need any of those things because he could use the TV cables that local media companies had been stringing up all over the continent. Those cables were hardwired into Ted’s potential national audience. In 1976, the FCC approved Ted’s plan to broadcast WTCG nationally through hundreds of local cable networks, and the first Superstation was born.

From there, the floodgates were open. Soon there were other superstations—notably, WGN Chicago and, of course, CNN. By the time Bill Clinton was in the White House, everybody and his friend had a specialty channel. At the turn of the century, the 500 channel universe was alive and thriving and, ironically enough, already dying, as technology began to outrun the simple bit of coaxial cable that spawned it. The Internet, once hardwired into your home or office was going wireless and when Stephen Jobs introduced the iPhone the revolution was on.

Today, as wireless communication grows, televisions are becoming empty receptacles – mere screens that host video games, iTunes, YouTube, Netflix etc. etc. More and more people are choosing what they watch– and when they watch it– without reference to what television stations or networks are broadcasting. Soon, that 60-inch big screen will be a slave to your smartphone, networks will produce pay as you play content only, and local stations, if they’re smart, will return to what they do best– local news and information.

By the time Lucy and Desi celebrate their 70^th anniversary of reruns, nobody’s going to remember how we used to watch them, and television, as our generation knew it, will be dead as disco.

I Met a Marxist in Ireland

I met a Marxist — not the craft-beer-and-Prius kind but the real meal deal. He was one of Lenin’s Lads and proud of it. We eyed each other, like wary animals, across an ad hoc Irish pub party, casually exchanging a few beer-whet barbs through the crowd. He was younger, better informed and quicker on the wit than I was, but I haven’t been afraid of Marxists (not the real ones, anyway) since Brezhnev dropped the collective ball in the early 70s. Besides, I had the advantage: I’d been there before, many times. Eventually, sensing a game of “let’s you and him fight,” the party metaphorically parted so the two of us could get at it. I seldom walk away from an intellectual punch-up, so I figured what the hell. My new friend, however, had a few things on his mind. After a couple of pleasantries, he looked at me and said, “The fascists are coming.” It took me a few seconds to realize he didn’t mean me, and from that revelation on, we spent the rest of the evening agreeing to agree.

The far right movement in Europe is not only alive — it’s on a roll. Statistically, it’s the fastest growing political movement west of the Urals. In fact, many Euro-centrist politicians are moving right to accommodate this new political reality. FYI, I’m not talking about black jacket, Neo-Nazi skinheads — although they are the far right’s willing allies — I’m talking about Mom and Pop fascists. These are ordinary people (of an increasingly younger demographic, BTW) whose traditional social and political views see the 21^st century European landscape as a comedy of errors which the current politicos either can’t (or won’t) put right. They have lost their faith in Europe’s left and right wing revolving door governments, each one more inept than the last, and want, above all else, stability.

This movement has its roots firmly planted in two separate but equal gardens of discontent.

First, the ever-expanding European economic crisis: a financial disaster which has now taken on a destructive life of its own. For

These Products Weren't Commonplace — These Products Weren’t Commonplace

the last half century, the uncrowned heads of Europe have been spending money as if they were Midas’ mistress; when they ran out of ready cash, they just borrowed more. Now the piggy banks are empty, the credit cards are maxed and the banks are demanding their pound of flesh. Take one guess who’s being asked to pay the bills! Those same folks who are getting financially pistol-whipped by their governments’ fiscal irresponsibility — which, in some places, verges on criminal negligence. Across Europe, people have watched their savings, insurance, homes, pensions and jobs vanish. Officially, unemployment sits somewhere north of 10%. Unofficially, it’s much higher, and among young people it’s close to 50% (in parts of Portugal and Spain.) These numbers are biblical in their devastation. Elections come and go, governments rise and fall, but there’s no relief in sight.

Secondly, many Europeans believe their culture is under attack — not only by radical Islam from without, but by their own politicians from within. For the past two (maybe three) decades, they’ve been subjected to ever increasing volumes of feel-good rhetoric, yet the Moslem ghettos get bigger, more radical and immigration (legal and otherwise) increases. They see a seemingly infinite conflict stretching out before them like some endless Orwellian misery. More and more, politicians are being physically attacked and even killed. Political commentary and satire are being intimidated, and artists, the very soul of any society, are being murdered or go into hiding. These are not the hallmarks of a vibrant, dynamic culture. Nor do images like that of Drummer Rigby, hacked to death in broad daylight, instill confidence in an already sceptical population. And the brazen taunts of the unrepentant murderers add powerful punctuation to the message: “Your leaders are impotent.”

But They Weren't Hard to Find — But They Weren’t Hard to Find

There are no short answers to either of these questions, but the longer the powers that be dither around looking for one, the closer the fascists get to finding it. Golden Dawn in Greece, Democracia Nacional in Spain, Casapound in Italy, BNP in Britain: the list is long and it’s growing. Even the powerful National Front in France, once the darling of conservative politics, is now seen by many as too mainstream, too willing to compromise right-wing ideals for a slice of the political pie. There are other forces at work in France these days, and they showed up in huge numbers (over 200,000 in Paris alone) to protest Francois Hollande’s gay marriage law.

My newfound Marxist friend didn’t want to fight with me over petty politics; he wanted to warn me that conditions in Europe are changing, and that even though the factions are small and scattered fascism is on the move.

Postscript
Oddly enough, since I’ve been back in North America, Vladimir Putin and his Russian Duma have passed a law outlawing “gay propaganda” (whatever that means) by an astounding margin of 436 – 0. A little closer to home, in my country, a provincial sports federation has banned turbans from the soccer pitch. They say it’s for safety reasons, but a shocking 87% of the people in the province support the ban.

Big Brother? So What!

That incredible crinkling sound you hear is millions of outraged people getting their knickers in a knot over the revelation that the good ole US of A has been spying on them. The news has sent the sales of Reynolds Wrap off the charts as tinfoil hats are, as of last week, the must-have fashion accessory this summer. Meanwhile, thousands of pasty-faced conspiracy theorists are emerging from their moms’ basements to a rousing chorus of “I told ya so!” It seems the much sci-fi-ed American police state has arrived, and the general consensus is anger and disbelief. The New York Times, head cheerleader of the Obama presidency, has been hinting that there might possibly be a credibility gap in the current administration, while other, bolder media outlets are dusting off the n-word: Nixon. Good luck with that comparison! However, before we start gathering the nails to add crucifixion to Obama’s list of accomplishments, we need to stop, take three deep ones, and put a serious eyeball on this latest episode of I Spy.

First of all, this isn’t an Obama initiative, so get off the guy’s back. It has all the earmarks of a Bush/Cheney adventure — which every report I’ve read says it is. I’m no friend of President Obama, but the only mea culpa he has to answer for here, is why, as with Guantanamo Bay, he didn’t shut it down. And honestly, given the massive intel the grey suits are collecting for him, why would he?

Secondly, and more importantly, Americans have been eavesdropping on Americans (and others) since before J. Edgar decided that John Dillinger was Public Enemy Numero Uno. If you think this most recent bit of chicanery is a one-off, audacious attack on civil liberties, I’ve got a bridge in Brooklyn I need to sell. The fact is, there are over thirty different law enforcement agencies in America, and each one of them has a history of covert operations against American citizens. Plus, they all have the technical capability and the ethical elasticity to get the job done, with — or without — a court order. However, before you get all tight-jawed and start passing out gratuitous judgement calls, remember there’s a dirty little war going on, and the bad guys aren’t necessarily wearing black hats. The nasty folks of this world have upped the ante on the nasty things they’re willing to do to the rest of us; playing by the rules is only one of a number of priorities we need to think about.

Finally, and for me this is the WTF moment, the same people who are yipping themselves hoarse about the sanctity of privacy are dancing all over Twitter, telling the world what they had for breakfast. They’re spreading their profile across the Internet as fast as their little thumbs can tap out the info and sending kilobytes of personal and financial data to everybody who wants to know it — from Amazon to Zappos.com and all points in between. Actually if the NSA (or anybody else) wants a running commentary on the private lives of most Americans all they have to do is join Facebook and they’ll get it from their own lips. It seems a bit much to weep bitter tears over the death of a sacred cow when you’re the one who slaughtered him.

Beyond all this, though, the most interesting part of the whole situation is that the guy, Edward Snowden, who pulled the mask off this incarnation of Big Brother has fled to Asia; specifically, what the media are calling Hong Kong. Nobody seems to be wondering why. However, the last time I looked, Hong Kong was part of China, and it did occur to me that the folks with the most to gain from a monumental cock-up in the American intelligence community might be the Chinese. It will be interesting to see if Hong Kong’s cut-and-dried extradition treaty with the US holds up against a determined effort by the boys in Beijing. Just sayin’. Stay tuned, and remember you heard it here first.

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