The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
How to begin a revolution? You disarm the opposition. What is the greatest tool used to control/misinform the 99%? The mainstream media. To whom do we pay a monthly fee for this suppression? The mainstream media! Ie. Comcast and others like them.
Here is my proposal, for whatever it is worth. If enough people recognize the problem and are willing to participate in a media boycott, it will begin to crack the oligarchy ediface. I would suggest that, on September first, we simply stop paying our cable bill. People can cancel their service if they are queezy about their credit rating, or they can simply stop paying the bill for three months. If we can get this proposal out to as many lefty (or righty) outlets as possible, and if a million people stopped paying their cable bill, it will be noticed. This would be a powerful boycott, not unlike a general strike. I'm very serious.
I know people need and want a news outlet, but it isn't really news, anyway. I know people have their email addresses linked to their cable provider. But there are plenty of free online email providers to switch to. Why be held hostage by your cable company? Sure, you'll lose your sports and movie channels, but "bread and circuses" should be the first things to go.
There can be no revolution without sacrifice. If you're serious about reform, then let's throw a shoe in the machine that perverts the truth to enslave us. Because without access to the truth, there can be no real reform, and the oligarchy will only continue to divide and conquer the people, house them in their boxes, and keep them working for greater corporate profits. I think we need to start with the media.
Comments
Sorry, but that is theft.
This is advocating people use something and then refuse to pay for it. Canceling service is one thing. Stealing cable is another and dishonest. the actual "sacrifice" would be our morality and integrity.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.--Aristotle
If there is no struggle there is no progress.--Frederick Douglass
Cable Companies Are Thieves...
I cut the cord years ago because of Comcast repeatedly trying to steal from me...
Watch your bill, they will try it with you too, hoping that you'll just pay the bill without demanding the deal you were given... Hey, if 1/2 of your customers will pay a $55 overcharge without questioning it, then why not give it a shot?
We had moved and I signed on with a "1 Year Bundle Deal" for Cable/Internet/Phone where the charge ended up at about $143/mo with all the taxes and surcharges applied that they cannot tell you how much they are, because they like to quote lower numbers on their deals they advertise...
About 3 months later I get a bill for $198 an increase of $55 over the price of my 1 year deal...
I call Comcast and spend 45 minutes on hold waiting while listening to, "Hi, I'm Shaquille O'Neal..." Then finally get to speak with a customer service rep that tells me that my 1 year deal had expired. I politely asked her "What calendar does Comcast use?" Then went on to state I had signed up with a 1 year deal, and had only lived there 3 months, so expiration of the deal isn't going to work...
The Comcast CSR has to get the supervisor, and "Play The Tape" of when I signed up, and sure enough a few minutes later is issuing an apology and correcting the bill, which I then paid...
About 3 months later "Comcast's Short Calendar" happens again, and another call with a similar 45 minute wait on hold listing to Shaq over and over again, my bill is again fixed and I pay...
This happened again twice, and finally as the end of the year occurred I told them "Disconnect Me! I'm done with this crap!" Naturally they don't like to hear that, and I was transferred to the "Make The Customer Happy Specialist," who proceeded to "Extend my 1 Year Deal an Additional Year."
The "Final Straw" happened again just 3 months later, when the "Comcast Con Artist Calendar" again tried to "Screw The Customer Out Of $55" expecting different results, and boy oh boy, did they get different results...
I had been working on a job where I was out of the house at the crack of dawn, and most nights got home somewhere between 10PM and midnight, although some nights went until 1 or 2AM. The "Comcast Con Artist Bill" arrived and I hadn't made the call to get the bill fixed and paid on time so they disconnected us. That's not a good start when your "Over Billing" is the reason why the bill was unpaid, but, I finally got home early on a Friday Night, after being disconnected for 3 days, and listening to my angry wife complaining. I tried hard to remain civil after the 45 minute "Hi I'm Shaquille O'Neal" hold. The CSR went through all of the usual "Get The Supervisor, and Play The Tape" gyrations, finally announcing the bill had been fixed and we were then ready to make the payment and restore service...
SCREECH!!!!!!
The Question That Changed Everything....
I asked, "This Billing... Does it include a credit for the 3 days we were shut off?"
The Comcast CSR replied, "Oh no, we don't do that."
I said, "Oh Really!"
I then asked, "When exactly do you stop charging me for service that I'm not getting?"
The Comcast CSR replied, "We bill you until you turn in the equipment at our office."
"I See..." I stated...
Clearly our call was going to severely degenerate from here on out, my wife had a look of horror on her face knowing that both barrels of the 12 gage shotgun were about to go off at once, followed by a claymore mine, with the ability to go full nuclear war in only seconds...
"I'll tell you what! You are never going to see another &%#@ing dime out of me, I don't care what your &%#@ing billing policy is. As for returning your &%#@ing equipment, you can &%#@ing come and get it! I'm not wasting and other &%#@ing second of my &%#@ing time with you. If you haven't &%#@ing picked up your &%#@ing equipment by Sunday night, I'll put it out with the &%#@ing trash, and you can &%#@ing find it there until about 3AM when the trash man does our street... Click!
Saturday at 8AM a Comcast Representative stopped at the house and picked up the equipment...
Today it has been over 5 years since we cut the cord and we don't miss it a bit...
We have broadband internet only (not from Comcast), Cell Phones, and VOIP for mostly fax use at home, Antenna & Converter Box for local broadcast TV, and ROKU...
Who needs Comcast Cable? I've got better than what they offered at a fraction of the price...
Cut The Cord! No Regrets!
I'm the only person standing between Richard Nixon and the White House."
~John F. Kennedy~
Economic: -9.13, Social: -7.28,
Many cable companies require
Many cable companies require the customer to pay in advance for services, so it is not theft. If people choose to cancel their service, according to their conscience, then better still. I am not advocating theft, I'm advocating turning off the feed.
Yes, you pay 1/2 a month or one month in advance.
That's all.
One doesn't pay three months in advance. Yes, it's theft.
I like it.
Don't know how well it would catch on but agree with your viewpoint. 90% of the media is owned by six corporations, which are owned by evil rich people who are complicit in the spreading of propaganda to the public so they can wage their wars and increase their wealth.
Addressing the media would have to be a primary aspect of a revolution, propaganda is real. Those that don't know about Edward Bernays should look him up.
I'm thinking perhaps the boycott should be larger than just Comcast but maybe that could be used as a start. This is an idea that should be fleshed out.
Debtor's Prison
Another great tool of the oligarchy for controlling the masses is that of the debtor's prison. This has already started creeping back into our "justice" system the last few years, if not longer. (Old ladies being arrested for library fines, jail inmates trapped for long periods due to inability to post bail, et al.) Failing to pay the cable bill would only embolden TPTB to toss us in for-profit incarceration indefinitely, en masse. And I agree with WD that it is theft, so under the law we'd have no legs to stand on.
Cancelling is another story, an effective form of protest via the pocketbook. We cancelled our DirecTV subscription here several years ago, in protest of their dishonest billing tactics. It wasn't until after the boob tube went silent that I even realized how manipulative and toxic it really is (took a couple of weeks. I pined away for a bit missing Chopped! and SpongeBob, haha). Haven't missed it meanwhile, and don't plan to get it back. Ever.
Thing is, the writing was on the wall years ago, but it's just now beginning to catch up to them. When it got to where many of us could not even get PBS without paying for cable, I remember the blank stares when I suggested that just maybe the media didn't want us rubes to have access to information. The absurdity of that, having to pay for cable in order to access "public" television. And yet here we are...
Further, the revolution being televised would only line the pockets of the fat cats who decide which version of the revolution we get to see anyway. We're much better off finding our own ways to get the word out. Which we're doing right now
Change is the end result of all true learning. ~ Leo Buscaglia
Just cancel all television channels.
Frankly, I think your idea of "simply stop paying the bill for three months," to put it mildly is absurd.
Just cancel the damn TV channels.
And oh, yeah, I'm queezy, as you put it, about my credit rating. Geesh.
Just buy a TV antenna
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Amplified-Indoor-Outdoor-Antenna/dp/...
Pay 7.99 a month to Netflix.
There are many options other than ruining one's credit score and being part of theft of services.
Netflix just informed me it's going to $9.99/mo
Still okay. I cut off DirecTV, have a Roku, Netflix and Amazon prime. Guilty of latter. Whatev, I only pay bigbucks for my shitty DSL ISP, and ATT for cell.
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
My Daughter Did This
Netflix provides enough kids' programming to keep her brood happy. Daddy watches his beloved Cardinals on MLB.tv over his computer.
They had AT&T U-verse for a while, switched to Time-Warner, quit them after a month, then tried Netflix over the air. It's been almost a year now, and they aren't going back.
Seriously, people. There really WAS life before television. It wasn't a requirement of life back when people not only had functioning brains, but some concept of how to use them. You have the Internet, or you couldn't read this. You, therefore, have options for that video Jones you can't shake completely (if that applies to you). USE THEM!
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
Yes, and I suggested two
Yes, and I suggested two options. If you prefer cancelling over with-holding then fine. Better still, as I said. What point is there in belittling the lesser option? Some of us really don't care about credit ratings.
Long term, Alyosha, your
Long term, Alyosha, your proposal isn't sustainable. It can't be expanded in a practical way. And it isn't ethical. I don't want to compromise my ethics to fight corruption. And I don't think it is necessary. I agree, we have the our purchasing power that we can use in support or against corporations. We need to do this collectively, in large numbers and over a sustained period of time in order for it to have real impact.
Yes! Cancel your television! The major networks allow you to
view a limited number of shows online. Go to cbs.com etc. and see what's available for free (you don't need the all-access thing, most current shows are available the day after they air). Just pay for the Internet and make do with free stuff. And maybe support some stuff you like from independent YouTubers.
As someone noted above, you can also still get network shows via your TV if you have a new TV or a converter box. I haven't had more than basic Internet service for years, haven't paid for entertainment, and don't miss it at all.
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Over the air HD signals are still free.
If you are within 90-100 miles line of sight to broadcast towers, PBS and most major networks are still available for "free". Unless you are deep in a hollow or tucked in behind a mountainous wall of granite you may find an unexpected number of crystal clear HD channels available in the public domain.
You can check your exact address and height of antenna at tvfool.com and print out a list of stations by signal strength and direction in color coded groupings based on the type of antenna needed for useable signal strength. Weather conditions will affect signal quality, so you might not be able to bring in weaker signals in a snow storm or torrential rain.
I am located over 70 miles from the nearest major metro area and get dozens of stations in most weather. I have a decent small roof mount UHF unit with a directional rotator and a simple signal amp. At today's prices the setup would cost under $200, assuming DIY installation, less than some of my friends pay PER MONTH for their cable package. In my area even the most basic cable package is over $50/month.
If you live 20-30 miles from broadcast tower, a $30 indoor flat wall antenna may be all you need. Living with a more limited channel lineup is a big plus as far as our family is concerned. Less time glued to the tube is more time available to live in your real life instead of some other imaginary one.
Want movies? Your library probably has hundreds you haven't seen that are worth watching. Unplugging from cable tv can be a very positive move to make. Definitely worth considering.
“ …and when we destroy nature, we diminish our capacity to sense the divine,and understand who God is, and what our own potential is and duties are as human beings.- RFK jr. 8/26/2024
No, it won't be, but
we're going to cover as much of it as we can on NetrootsRadio.com (shameless plug, but true).
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Haven't had cable TV in 16 years.
I get my internet from my Droid.
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
If Gil Scott Heron was right
The revolution will be live.
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
Just cancel cable service
In my opinion, 'not paying' your bill as some sort of protest isn't a serious move. It just seems whiny. Get serious.
My divorce from mainstream media came years ago, during the OJ Simpson trial, when virtually every moment of every outlet carried nonstop coverage in ridiculous circus fashion. You couldn't escape it. It was like a news blackout, some kind of brainwashin, I was horrified. I cut the cord, and felt happy and liberated. I haven't seen any cable TV since then and don't miss it.
ovals49 above described antenna options. That's what we did, with help and advice from our local Radio Shack guy. It works great, so PBS is there if I want to watch it. Now, though, the only actual TV we watch is local weather stations, if there's a tornado coming or something. But CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX and PBS are all there for free, and most of these have multiple channels, with reruns going on, etc. The local PBS network uses one of the side channels to broadcast the state legislature in session and other public events.
For entertainment we have all we want from Netflix (via Roku) and occasional Amazon rentals. When I was ill and couch-bound, I got lots of great DVD's from the public library. Once in a while we buy a DVD if it's something really good, but have scaled back the video library considerably.
For internet we have DSL on our landline, and it works GREAT for us. I hear people complaining about dsl, so it may vary, depending on your location. Ours is trouble free and costs $49 a month. My husband connects with his Blackberry to a cell tower in order to obsess about work emails. Really, I feel we are about as connected as we could possibly be, all without cable service.