Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

TV -- A Way OUT
“Some people sense a link between television and drugs, and yet most do not grasp the
nature of this connection.” ~ inspired by Christopher Lasch
“When a habit interferes with your ability to grow, to learn new things, to lead an active
life, then it constitutes a kind of dependence that is serious enough to be taken seriously.”
~ television researchers Robert Kubey & Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Some of you might still be resistant to the idea that you are addicted to watching
television. Some of you would come right up to me and say “I can quit watching
whenever I want.”
Fair enough … If that is the case, let your body walk that talk. Unplug your television
and keep it unplugged for the next month. If you can do so successfully and suffer only
minor symptoms of withdrawal (anxiety, listlessness, depression, antsy-ness, etc), then I
will concede that you aren’t addicted — I will even tell you to plug that TV right back in
and go on wasting as many of the few remaining minutes of your life as you wish.
“No one wants to admit we’re addicted. That’s just not possible. No one’s addicted to
television. We just need more of it, more channels, a larger screen, more volume. We
can’t bear to be without it, but no, nobody’s addicted. We could turn it off anytime we
wanted.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk
For the rest of us (I too, am a recovering TV addict), going “cold turkey” right away can
prove to be extremely stressful, so here are several tips you can use to effectively “wean”
yourself & your family from this devastating addiction.
TIP #01: OWN ONLY ONE TV …
Remove all TV’s from your house but the one in your family room. And be sure to
destroy the others. After reading the first portions of this chapter, you now know that you
are doing no one a favor by giving them a TV as a gift. You might as well be giving them
a jar of toxic waste. It doesn’t matter how you destroy them, of course, just be sure to do
so. This can actually be a lot of fun, and you can even find creative ways to let your
children be actively involved in their own “emancipation” by letting them participate in
the destruction of your superfluous sets. Blow them up, shoot them, take an axe or
hammer to them – it doesn’t really matter. You wouldn’t set a deadly virus free on to
harm your community, so make sure you don’t do the same with your extra TV’s.
TIP #02: MAKE WATCHING TV LESS COMFORTABLE …
Replace those cozy TV-loungers and “sink-down-into-forever” sofas with furniture that is
hard and that forces you & other TV viewers to sit upright. It is also helpful to arrange
that furniture in such a way that the TV is not the focal point of the room. Finally, discard
your remote control. This choice alone will save hours of zombie-like “channel-surfing”.
In addition, the annoyance your children will feel every time they have to get up to
change the channel or adjust the volume will limit viewing time all by itself.
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