Do You Have Affluenza?

My husband is also enrolled in school and came across an interesting documentary in one of his classes.  It's on so called "affluenza."  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E60sWCR4eLQ  Basically, it shows how we are so caught up in trying to keep up with the Jones' that we are actually less happy than we would be if we were just satisfied with what we did have.  It also says some pretty startling statistics such as we spend an entire year of our lives watching advertisements.  Now if that doesn't make you flip off the TV, I don't know what will!  I personally chose to go without a television upon the birth of my son, two years ago.  Upon that confession I am usually either looked at as though I am an alien from outerspace or am congratulated about how "good" that makes me.  The primary reason I originally decided not to have a television is that when I was younger, I have horrible memories of my daycare providers watching television all day long (typically soap operas) and forcing me to sit in front of a bowl of cereal I refused to eat until either I finished or she was done with her "soaps."  To this day I hate both soap operas and cereal!  The moral of the story for me was that I knew what a time waster television could be and did not want to fall into a rut of neglecting my children while at home with them because I was glued to the television.  As a result, I have a two year old who LOVES to read and is extremely smart and has a great imagination.  If he is over at a friends house (or grandma's) and the TV is on, he has about a five minute attention span before he's off looking for books or toys.  If nothing else speaks volumes, I think that does.  I highly recommend of economically disposing of your biggest time waster!  Not to mention there literally is almost NOTHING good on anymore.  TV shows used to have morals, now they portray adulterous relationships and broken families.  We laugh at them because we can relate...which makes me wonder if we relate because of how much influence these little machines have in our lives!  Also, to answer the question that I get the most - am I completely out of touch with the world without a TV?  Absolutely not!  I still have access to the internet, and although it is also a time waster, I have much more control of what I view and when I view it.  Plus, people are always talking...if something important happens (say a tsunami or even something way less dramatic like a large upcoming snowfall) people talk about it.  It takes two minutes to click on foxnews.com or other news source to get up to date.  I do not miss the television, and it's one thing I think if you break the addiction to you will be unlikely to ever go back.  I feel I don't have time right now to begin with, how much less would I have if I had "a show" that I was fixed on watching every night?