Some time around 1983 or so the Disgruntled Old Coot
that’s me 
tiring of the idiocy spewed by Television output tossed the device outside into the back yard. And there it sat. Until I moved and I have no idea what happened to it after that.
I remained TV-less until around 2006 when after a move to a Midwestern state inside “tornado alley” led to my decision to grab a TV since it was the best device to be warned of approaching tornadoes and if close enough to the shanty requiring I take shelter. The weather reports were also handy when the winter storm season arrived.
Tossing the TV for those years allowed a LOT of non-fiction book reading and the amassing of ideas, thoughts, knowledge, etc. And the shedding of some of the implanted indoctrination/brainwashing all of us within the USA are immersed within from an early age to the day we die. Perhaps that is not the “best route” to personal happiness! Remaining “ignorant,” happily oblivious to reality, may be the best way to live life.
The Nielsen Company, which takes TV set ownership into account when it produces ratings, will tell television networks and advertisers on Tuesday that 96.7 percent of American households now own sets, down from 98.9 percent previously.
Read about it—–> HERE
Accurate statistics are hard to obtain and the linked-to essay at the New York Times also mentions that some of those TV-less homes are receiving TV output from the Web.
Thus, being one of the very few without a TV OR access to TV output from a non-TV source places you in a very small minority.
When I was TV-less I shunned TV wherever I went.
At a friend’s shanty with an assembled multitude or but one human present I would engage in conversation but ignored the TV and if a lack of talk led to attention being grabbed by the TV alone? It was time to say “Bye” and be on my way.
There were times when seeing SOME TV viewing occurred but those rare moments were fleeting, quick to pass and I seldom purposefully lingered. If I did it was typically when TV-based news was reporting on a story i found relevant to my interests. But, since I was an avid newspaper reader I knew that important topics would be better covered in print media than from a few seconds-long blurb on the TV. I did listen to radio but during my no TV period I was still grooving on music.
My era of AM talk radio was not until after I placed a used TV in my shanty upon the tornado-ridden blizzard-swept plains of the western portion of the Midwest.
Good old Google; here is another interesting Web page with what may be at least semi-accurate statistics and data—-> Here there be info
Perhaps “real and true” happiness can be had by joining the immensely huge USA human herd. Lust after material goods as so MANY hours of constantly spewed TV advertising encourages. Stare near-endlessly at the immense variety of drivel the TV emits. I do admit, though, that there is some knowledge to be found via the TV but, truthfully, what percentage of folks actually use the TV for acquiring factual non-fiction knowledge?
The mainly elite-class-owned mass media uses many methods to indoctrinate the USA human herd.
Errors of omission is an often used indoctrination method. The mass media does not have to actually lie to We, the People. Merely failing to “tell the whole story;” leaving out some to many factual details can be one of many devices to brainwash the USA human herd.
Your Resident Old Coot uses an indoor antennae to receive 6 or 7 local stations with 3 of those PBS stations. Considering the multi-year cost of paying for a multitude of TV channels is affordable for those with the discretionary wealth to do so but if you are one of the growing number of working-poor within the USA I encourage such folks to consider the cost of paying for TV over a life-time.
The motivations for most people who abandon TV fall into three categories, Krcmar found.
Some give it up to avoid exposing their families to the excessive sex, violence, and consumerism they feel are promoted onscreen. Others object to the medium itself, claiming television intrudes too much into their lives, interferes with conversation and takes time away from the family. Finally, some people have a beef with the power and values of the television industry and don’t want its influence in their homes.
From an interesting article. Read it in entirety——> HERE
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Alternative Living Options 