Television

To be brutally frank about the subject, I find statements like "TV is destroying our country" overstated and generalized in the extreme. Our generation's exposure to entertainment through television is not destroying our country, it's simply changing it. It's like saying the development of indoor plumbing will be the world's downfall. Of course watching TV in excess won't do you any favors, but since when has anything in excess been healthy? No one supports letting ten year olds stay glued to a TV screen for fifteen hours a day, but it's ridiculous to say that watching your favorite show every Monday night is morally wrong. On the topic of advertisements, I feel like people exaggerate about how much advertising really impacts consumers. Anyone who owns a TV sees commercials all the time for products they don't want -- the theory is that if you don't want a product, don't buy it. A silly jingle isn't going to brainwash you into blowing your life's savings on useless things. Advertising is what keeps our economy thriving, and anyone who says TV advocates the "evil" of advertising to mass audiences is just advocating consumers who are too weak to say no to Tony the Tiger.