"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
I have been mulling over this part of the Declaration of Independence in light of the ongoing push for egalitarianism and social justice and I finally conclude (to my dismay) that Jefferson got it wrong.
If we were all created equal, we would
- all run the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds
- make new discoveries in quantum mechanics
- not consider Ron Jeremy's anatomy to be remarkable
It is obvious that we are not all equal in any way that our capabilities can be measured. Perhaps it should have said "...are created with equal opportunity..." or that the next phrase, referring to inalienable rights, might have covered what was necessary about liberty.
In any case, I see that the misapplication of the "equal" ideal is leading to many of the current issues causing problems today. The claim to equality at birth leads some to believe that we should all have equal outcomes in our lives. The move towards eliminating school grades, removing winners and losers from kids' competition and using affirmative action instead of objective testing are only a few of the warped applications of this misleading idea. As a result, we are being dumbed down to our lowest common (but equal) denominator.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Television Networks Rant
I'm not going to get into the merits of what is broadcast on television these days, but there are some shows that Sandy and I like to watch. Because there is an element of serialization in most series these days, we don't like to miss one but we also don't like to watch reruns of shows we have seen.
Does anybody remember the good old days when they started a series in September and a new episode was aired every week until March? Then they went into reruns and did it all again for people who didn't watch it the first time around.
These days, they will run a few episodes in a row and then put in some reruns or other programs and then, out of the blue, throw in a few more new episodes. Then they'll switch nights without telling anyone. Any viewer using old technology has very little chance of catching all the episodes.
I sit down ever Monday morning and check our current programs out at tv.com to get the air dates for the new episodes. I track these in a spreadsheet (what else?) and then make sure the PVR is picking all those up to record. Still, from week to week, they alter the line-ups on a regular basis. For example, last week they might say that we can expect three new Criminal Minds episodes over the next three weeks. This week, they may be delayed for a week or more.
I have a handle on this through some work on my part, but what is going through the minds of those network scheduling people? Do they purposely want to make it difficult to follow their shows or do they figure that viewers can't tell the difference between a new episode and a repeat?
Then, they screw up the PVR's by having a program go from 9:00 to 10:01. What's with the extra minute? I can record two shows in a given time period and that minute keeps me from recording a pair starting at 10:00. I can start early but not late. I can end late but not early. So I have to time shift.
Another beef is that we got watching a couple of series with ongoing story lines (Eli Stone, My Own Worst Enemy) and they cancelled them. After they had shot the last show for what they thought was an ongoing series. You get involved, like the characters and then they leave them hanging forever.
Jericho was the exception. At the end of Season 2, they didn't know whether there would be a 3 so they shot two final episodes. A cliff-hanger and another that wrapped the story up. It was cancelled and we had closure.
It's easy to see that there is no concept at the networks of what makes a rewarding viewing experience. Morons are running the world. It's too bad that it's an inexpensive pastime that I enjoy or I'd take up video games instead.
There, I got that out of my system. For now.
Does anybody remember the good old days when they started a series in September and a new episode was aired every week until March? Then they went into reruns and did it all again for people who didn't watch it the first time around.
These days, they will run a few episodes in a row and then put in some reruns or other programs and then, out of the blue, throw in a few more new episodes. Then they'll switch nights without telling anyone. Any viewer using old technology has very little chance of catching all the episodes.
I sit down ever Monday morning and check our current programs out at tv.com to get the air dates for the new episodes. I track these in a spreadsheet (what else?) and then make sure the PVR is picking all those up to record. Still, from week to week, they alter the line-ups on a regular basis. For example, last week they might say that we can expect three new Criminal Minds episodes over the next three weeks. This week, they may be delayed for a week or more.
I have a handle on this through some work on my part, but what is going through the minds of those network scheduling people? Do they purposely want to make it difficult to follow their shows or do they figure that viewers can't tell the difference between a new episode and a repeat?
Then, they screw up the PVR's by having a program go from 9:00 to 10:01. What's with the extra minute? I can record two shows in a given time period and that minute keeps me from recording a pair starting at 10:00. I can start early but not late. I can end late but not early. So I have to time shift.
Another beef is that we got watching a couple of series with ongoing story lines (Eli Stone, My Own Worst Enemy) and they cancelled them. After they had shot the last show for what they thought was an ongoing series. You get involved, like the characters and then they leave them hanging forever.
Jericho was the exception. At the end of Season 2, they didn't know whether there would be a 3 so they shot two final episodes. A cliff-hanger and another that wrapped the story up. It was cancelled and we had closure.
It's easy to see that there is no concept at the networks of what makes a rewarding viewing experience. Morons are running the world. It's too bad that it's an inexpensive pastime that I enjoy or I'd take up video games instead.
There, I got that out of my system. For now.
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