Just a clever ploy?

[telecasterisation]

Some years ago the television programme ‘Big Brother’ started and I remember reading at the time that there were dozens of cameras all over the ‘house’ and the ‘contestants would never be able to act normally because they would feel self-conscious.

We then had, ‘I’m A Celebrity’, again with lots of cameras – but now no-one every mentions the cameras, it is just ‘who is taking part?’ – the cameras are simply forgotten.

Given how we are moving towards a society where there are to be cameras everywhere – have the television programmes above been deliberately introduced to de-sensitize us in preparation for the increased surveillance, a kind of clever ploy by those pulling the strings?

[Bushwacker]

No.

The programmes mentioned have been deliberately introduced to make money, which they have done very successfully.

[Patrick Brown]

The stuff that comes out of the box just gets more disturbing by the day. My days of shouting at the TV have passed and now I just accept the box for what it has become i.e. a new method of mind-control.

[kc]

It's because reality TV is dirt cheap to make. There are no writers fees, no actors fees, no special effects budget....the lowest rating reality TV Show will make money

[flamesong]

I don't have a TeeVee - but I do have access to stuff which looks interesting, so I don't dismiss its content completely it out of hand.

Getting the TeeVee out of the home has to be one of the most revolutionary acts an individual can perform, along with getting out of debt, freeing oneself from drugs (legal and otherwise), personal downsizing (reducing ones dependence on income) and thereby reducing or eliminating the requirement to pay tax.

If the latter seems socially irresponsible, it might be an idea to look into the 'fractional reserve' system and see how income tax does not, in effect, pay for public services, and that inflation is a covert tax.

As for the initial question, I have no doubt that 'Big Brother' et al, do assimilate people to the notion that they are being watched - just observe how ambivalent they are to it. The CCTV camera is our friend. I broke down on the M60 last week and when I used the emergency phone to get help, the woman on thhe other end said that she could see me! Was I reassured? For a fraction of a second, I confess that I was.

I was recently asked to help promote a new CCTV system by filming the launch. Despite the potential substantial financial gain (see above) and the devious notion that I might be able to use the footage in a plot against the system, I declined. Believe it or not, they plan to offer online access to the live camera footage to subscribers. Apparently, this already happens elswhere in the country - I think I was told Merseyside but I am not certain.

Television is a dumbing down mechanism. Like alcohol, it makes people easier to control - the police would much sooner tackle 3000 pìssheads spilling out of The Syndicate than 3000 free-thinking, sober revolutionaries - or 300 for that matter.

And combining the two topics of the last paragraph, how gratifying to see that BBC Three is airing the Binge Drinking Awards next week! Oh to be a champion!

[Johnny Pixels]

[marky 54]

[flamesong]

Sorry, I forgot where I was for a minute, there. Yes, everything has to be spelled out precisely here, eh!