"The average of the world's great civilizations before they decline has been 200 years. These nations have progressed in this sequence: From bondage to spiritual faith; from spiritual faith to great courage; from courage to liberty; from liberty to abundance; from abundance to selfishness; from selfishness to complacency; from complacency to apathy; from apathy to dependency; from dependency back again to bondage." - Alexander Tytler, (in his 1770 book, Cycle of Democracy)

 

"They're already deadthey just don't know it yet." - Brandon Lee (from his final motion picture "The Crow")

 

 

In the wake of their unconscionable molestation of "freedom of expression," MTV ("Manipulation" Television) turned over their soft-core shock therapy machine to subcultures whose intent is to "cut and paste" the Constitution into nothingness. A seventeen-hour hate crime lovefest with elements of society so misguided in their vitriol and reasoning has only served as more fodder in this ideological blood sport. As if a seventeen-hour infomercial for legislative "thought police" can make up for the disease that this media miscreant has generated.

 

Let's focus first on the track record of this cable cancer, before my opinion becomes a message board flame. In the scant two decades since video first "killed the radio star," this radiantly simple concept has mutated into a philosophical meat grinder, perverting youths' perceptions of sexual responsibility, social deference, personal beliefs and political prioritization. For all the liberal clamoring about walking the "slippery slope" of free speech issues I ask simply "what are you afraid ofthat we'll careen into a pit of morality?" The answer is a resounding YES. If our nation was ever shaken loose from the trance of television, repudiation of media moguls may resemble one of those hate crimes they seem so eager to prosecute.

 

MTV has derived the most public of pleasure from their tap dance on the Bill of Rights. From Madonna's veiled threats against Catholicism to the glossy and tacit embrace of pedophilia through coquettish spokesvictims Brittney and Christina, licentious executives and producers give credence to the disease of sexual addiction. To bolster their untenable position on physical impropriety, these same amoral "suits" shroud this counter-culture in the guise of "MTV News" with vacuous rip-and-readers like Tabitha Soren and Kurt Loder. Soulless pawns whose opinions are formed from corporate play books, these dutiful minions subvert decency with ham-fisted reports telling how the founding fathers' lack of foresight should be challenged at every turn. The shimmering reality is that the geniuses whose gray matter provided this country's genesis had MTV in mind when they penned the law of the land. They knew man's penchant for evil, and safeguarded against its taking root with each carefully crafted section of this nation's play book.

 

Ever the groundbreaker, MTV execs first plumbed new depths of programming excreta with Beavis and Butthead. The connotation of innocence that animation implies was this spewdum's built-in defense. Show after show subtly extolled the virtues of being dangerously ignorant. It was and is advocacy of aberrant behavior. As if inane laughter at any words resembling sexual slang should be considered redeeming. Redeeming content at Music Television is in direct proportion to tee shirt sales, and Mike Judge's behavioral buzzsaw thrived. It was Beavis and Butthead who in 1993 offered the first sacrifice to the corporate gods, as a young boy burned his sister to death while acting on the cartoon punks' pyromaniacal predilections. The hierarchy must have tasted young blood in the water, because the Free Pass that is the Clinton administration has only heightened their lust for deviancy.

 

With the advent of "The Real World," the "M" in MTV was redefined as "Most anything other than music." Glorifying those painful (and thanks to ominously-intrusive cameras, very public) life experiences as what happens "when people stop being polite, and start getting 'real'," this disingenuous premise scoffed at the notion that being polite was anything more than a sign of social weakness. Conflicts were encouraged, stereotypes were assembled, and those with substantial upbringing were made to feel as though their value systems were atrophied. Can anyone explain away the glaring flaw with abandoning politeness and "getting real" and then wonder why nightclubs and school hallways have become today's killing grounds? In a most diabolically inauspicious way, the musical powers-that-be fanned the flames of entitlement, race-bating, and functional illiteracy to secure their place at the corporate trough.

 

The next time you are subjected to Paul Begala or some Democrat revisionist who insists that the Clinton years brought "unprecedented growth," consider the escalation of MTV's guerilla warfare on our collective psyche. During this moral Ice Age, the acknowledged powerbroker of youth sensibilities has packaged and promoted gangsta' rap, which has led to the creation of Black Entertainment Television. Dressed in the finest fabric to disguise the stench of hypocrisy, Robert Johnson has become the 21st century poverty pimp, subliminally urging the blissfully uneducated and apathetic black culture to cast aside any leanings toward longevity and kill their own in order to garner the perfect car stereo. Add to this volatile mix the barbarity of professional wrestling, the spiritual desecration of pornography, the diminution of elected office with questions like "boxers or briefs?" and the unspoken endorsement of plastic surgery with recent specials showing vulnerable (and naked) teenagers enduring elective mutilation to quell their peers' derision. This is not a liberal or conservative issue. This is a good versus evil issue. And still the parents of America allow Vince MacMahon and Li'l Kim to rear our children.

 

Which brings us to "Jackass." By giving a forum to Johnny Knoxville, MTV has shone the spotlight on the fruits of twenty years' labor. Knoxville is the perfect prototype of Generation X. He has none of the pesky trappings that engineered this country's foundation; conscience, intelligence, focus, or discipline. His life is completely expendable, and MTV will be right there for every thoughtless chapter of this low-speed suicide. The channel that brought us "Spring Break" and "Celebrity Death Match" has now crossed the threshold into evaluating human worth. Johnny Knoxville will not stop until the execs upstairs are satisfied. What his addle mind has yet to grasp is that they'll never be satiated. They want it all, including his tortured little life. The voyeuristic appetite that MTV has cultivated will culminate with this ominous dialogue in the hushed corridors of media power.

 

It's been a long haul, Johnnyand it ends with you. If you don't die on the air, it will all be for naught. If you live, we can't make a special about your tragic demise. We won't be able to encourage the next disillusioned child to step from a ledge with the camcorder rolling. If you don't perish loudly, Master Knoxvillewe'll have no lead-in to our next Hate Crimes special. We won't be able to rally our automatons to singe the country's conscience once again. You must die, Johnny, so that our empire will live to corrupt another day. If you are not martyred in the name of impetuous youth, someone with power and virtue may start asking questions. They may question our compliance with "GenX"-ocide, or unearth our elation when a twelve year old boy used a WWF-approved move to crush the skull of a six year old girl. They may become incensed when discovering that a Connecticut boy's burning nearly to death while using "Jackass" as a blueprint may actually add valuable rating points to your revolting broadcast.

 

We don't have much time, Johnny. Don't worry about getting heat from Connecticut's senator, or that carpetbagger mouthpiece from New York. Our bean counters have uncanny foresight, and those two have been bought and paid for. Sure they'll rail at us in front of the cameras, but behind closed doors they'll sheepishly acknowledge who is buttering their bread. No, Johnnyit's the new rogues in the Oral Office that concern us. They don't understand your generation, Johnny. It's up to you to send a message to them for all of those kids out there whose parents have to work two jobs because the government is bleeding them dry. We are the nation's babysitter now, Johnny. Distracted and selfish parents have entrusted us with the corruption of America's youth. We are not going to let them down, Johnny. By tearing yourself limb from limb for our amusement, we will show those in Washington that we've fostered millions of children just like you, and we'll kill them all to protect the right to Viacom/AOL/TimeWarner-approved free speech.

 

Do it for your country, Johnny.

 

 

_____

 

Paul Daniel Long writes from Baltimore, MD. Paul has been in talk radio for the last three years and is presently organizing a conservative talk show package for cyberspace. He is a new columnist for Ether Zone.

 

Paul Daniel Long can be reached at longnwrong@home.com

 

Published in the February 9, 2001 issue of Ether Zone. Copyright © 2001 Ether Zone. (http://etherzone.com) Reposting permitted with this message intact.

Comment

Comment

 

From Robert, Lori, Ranie, and Rylie Goltl 2-3-01

 

I can remember when MTV first came on. We, my sister and I, were watching it one night. Our parents came home, saw what we were watching, and told us to turn off that trash right now. We were forbidden to watch it from that point on. I guess they are still trash. We don't get that channel at our house, but if we did, I wouldn't let my kids watch it. It's like that old saying: "Trash Begets Trash."

 

 

 

Dear Mr. Rense,
Hello from Australia,

 

We have an Australian ABC national TV channel which is existing on our tax money ONLY, and instead of producing programs, they are running AGAIN AND AGAIN, videos of insane, mad, wild youth hinting all the time at crime, sex, insanity, brutality, homosexuality, murder, vulgarity, aggressiveness, hatred to society, etc. This programs are very much like MTV, and totally destroying our Australian youth. We can not say anything, as this is "democracy".

 

In Australia, instead of the name MTV these "films" are running under the name: 'Rage Simulcast On Triple J' It is very disturbing that much of Australia's "broadcasting", "arts", "ballet", "music", "newspapers" and other government programs are running almost exclusively by homosexuals, even though homosexuals are only about one and a half percent of the population.

 

Thanks again you for posting that article.

 

Carmel Cohen
123xyz@dingoblue.com.au

Mr. Rense,

I am a frequent reader of your site and am finally compelled to respond to an article. After the unilateral responses to Mr. Long's article "MTV's Shameless Destruction of Youth" were posted, I trust you will allow for the posting of a contrary view. This would coincide with the fairness and equality your site consistently endorses

First and foremost, I am somewhat dissapointed with the posting of the article in the first place. I consider your site to be an unbiased, safe haven for those in pursuit of the social, governmental, and scientific truths. Mr. Long's out of place commentary does nothing to advance such efforts. It is simply a commentary on arbitrary cultural values and does nothing to further the hard work of others. His deep personal convictions conveniently laced with a few convincing adjectives do nothing more than provide a clear exapmle of what one motivated conservative can do with a personal computer and a thesaurus. His reactionary synopsis of the impact of MTV on America's youth convenienly overlooks many complex issues such as education, socioeconomic inequalities, the impact of capitalism on the mainstream media, and the integral nature of sex and violence throughout human history. While I am in no way defending the morality of MTV, clearly I am indicating that it is simply an easy target for those with small minds and large opinions. I hope such litarary rubbish will no longer clutter your site and will remain in the editorial columns of newspapers where they belong.

Sincerely,
Chris Marks Akron,
Ohio

 

 

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