There actually was a time when young people spoke only when spoken to because after all, based on limited life experience, just what of value (outside of their immediate feelings) could they really contribute to a conversation? That was very similar to “children should be seen and not heard”: another sentiment of wisdom dismissed when the self-appointed enlightened later determined that our offspring should be fawned over and we really needed to respect what they had to say simply because they exist.

But what really got me was how different communication was in the home.

I was brought up by a father whose very presence in the room garnered respect because… he was my father. But when I went over to one of my white friend’s house, I experienced exactly what Eddie Murphy described in his 1983 HBO special “Delirious”….

…
Personally I’d shit on myself before I even dared talking to my father like that, but sadly, this no longer appears to be a cultural differentiation and certainly not limited to the home.

Today we see young people of all backgrounds disrespecting (and assaulting) teachers, law enforcement, the elderly, store employees, referees, politicians, commuters on mass transit or their cars, people just walking down the street and it encompasses almost every potential interaction. Every since the left began their authoritarian incursion into parental rights, they demeaned and ruined the concept of discipline which is the only thing between someone’s kid and the general public. If he or she didn’t fear what would happen if they misbehaved and it got back to the parents, what’s to stop them from creating mayhem in and out of the home?

Parents have lost control of their children, in part because of interfering school personnel and government social workers who’ve told them that being asked to do chores or cleaning their room is tantamount to child abuse, not to mention the bad influence of the entertainment industry that demeans adults in favor of an edgy punchline. Kids know the installed established boundaries, will manipulate them to their advantage and this is just one reason why they’re all too happy expecting all the perks of living at home for free while giving supporting parents the finger when the slightest thing is asked of them.

There is no quick fix for this. Corporal punishment alone isn’t enough.

As long as we live in the society we have today where young people can now dictate how they want to be taught and graded, how they can’t be “judged”, how they want their place of employment to accommodate and evaluate them, and influence how the rest of us must speak and live our lives, the world will be a crazy place.

And it’s all because some people (who were single and had no children of their own) decided how the rest should raise them and gave brats the long leash which we are all paying for to this day.

Sorry. It’ll never happen.

Aside from sports and news channels, many channels would be in serious financial peril if their customers had “choice” but are saved by the very progressive, wealth-distributive approach to entertainment. Basically, you pay regardless of the quality or value to you of the programming.

While you run those cable remote laps and click past channels you never have (nor ever will stop to watch), remember you’re still paying for it. Production companies, and some of their icky “actors” and “comics” will continue to be handsomely paid, no matter how provocative, partisan, juvenile, racist, unfunny, gory, unoriginal, and intentionally insulting they decide to be as long as We the Consumer have no choice but to pay for their cable and satellite channels, whether we watch them or not.

Imagine if we only paid for the channels we wanted?

With the cheapest cable package (leaving out the obscure), you have A&E, American Movie Classics, Animal Planet, Azteca America, Baby First, Baby TV, BBC America, Believer’s Voice of Victory Network, Black Entertainment Television, Bloomberg TV, Boomerang, Bravo, BYU Television, Cartoon Network, CBS Sports Network, CCTV (China), Chiller, Christian Television Network, Church Channel, Cine Latino, Cine Sony, Cinemax (East and West), Classic Arts Showcase, CNBC, CNN, CNN En Espanol, Comedy Central, Cooking, Country Music Television, C-SPAN, C-SPAN2, C-SPAN3, Daystar, De Pelicula, De Pelicula Clasico, Discovery, Discovery En Espanol, Discovery Familia, Discovery Family Channel, Disney Channel, (East, West, Jr., XD), DIY, E! Entertainment Television, Encore (East, West, HD, Action, Black, Classic, Family, Suspense, Westerns), ESPN (Alternate, Deportes, 2, News, U), Eternal Word Network, Food Network, Fox Business News, Fox Deportes, Fox Movie Channel, Fox News, Fox Sports (1, 2), Free Speech TV, Fuse, Fusion, FX, FXX, Galavision, Game Show Network, GetTV, Golf Channel, Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, HBO (East, West, 2, Comedy, Family, Latino, Signature, Zone), Headline News, History, History En Espanol, Home and Garden Television, Home Shopping Network (1 and 2), Impact Network, Independent Film Channel, Inspiration Film Network, Investigation Discovery, ION, Lifetime, Lifetime Movie Network, MLB Extra Innings, MLB Network, MSNBC, MTV (2, Live), NASA, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, NBA League Pass, NBA TV, NBC Sports Network, NBC Universo, NewsMax, NFL Network, NHL Center Ice, NHL Network (Alternate), Nick Jr., Nickeldeon / Nick at Night (East and West), Nicktoons, Oprah Winfrey Network, Outdoor Channel, Oxygen, Pursuit, QVC, QVC+, Reelz, RFD-TV, Russia Today, Science, Smithsonian Channel, Spike, Sundance, Syfy, TeenNick, Teleformula, Telemundo, Telemundo Oesta, Tennis Channel, The Learning Channel, The Movie Channel (East, West, Xtra), The Blaze, Travel Channel, Trinity Broadcasting Network, TruTV, TBS, TNT, TV Land, Univision (Deportes, Este, Foro TV, Oeste, Novelas), USA Network, Velocity, VH1, VH1 Classic, Weather Channel, WGN, Women’s Entertainment, and many more.

With that….

If the average family could choose ONLY the channels they wanted, think about how many you’d actually deem worthy of paying for? Personally, we’d keep ESPN (only for NFL pregame shows, Sunday Night Baseball, and Monday Night Football), NFL Network, C-SPAN, Food Network, Fox Business, American Movie Classics, Turner Movie Classics, Home and Garden and that’s about it: a couple handfuls of channels we’d watch on a consistent basis and the rest wouldn’t be missed.

What really sucks is that we’re forced to pay for channels many of us NEVER watch and some we couldn’t be paid to watch. There are many channels that include what is referred to as “soft porn”, so-called documentaries on “family” channels that are nothing less than blatant liberal indoctrination aimed at children, kids’ network with obnoxious know-it-all punks and stupid adults, and numerous reality formats that would not be in existence if not subsidized by millions of captive subscribers.

If ESPN were solely reliant on advertisers, many would hear from those who identify with Curt Schilling’s common sense assessment of the proper, traditional use of bathrooms. ESPN might have had to think twice before making such a snap judgment in firing him.

But the entertainment industry is devious and liberal, they love forcing the public to do things against their best instincts, pushing their ideology unchallenged, and best of all: getting us to pay for it whether we want to or not.

If we ever get “choice”, we will all save a lot of money and the intolerant, politically correct may pay the price for a change!