Entertainment, or Mind Control?

            Hundreds of millions of people all around the world own and watch television and would say that life would be impossible without it. People strive on the information and entertainment being sent into their homes to be viewed. They huddle up in front of the warm and welcoming glow of the television and watch the evening news as a family. Little do they know, though, their minds are being shaped to the liking of the government and big industries. Every news report they see, every program that they watch, and every commercial they sit through, their minds are being altered and manipulated. Television is not just an excellent form of entertainment, but it is also an excellent form of mind control.

            On average, how many commercials do you think you would view throughout  a day, and how often do you find yourself longing to buy whatever is being advertised? The feeling of want for something is not just a coincidence because you saw it on the television. It is just what the bid companies what you to think. They create advertisements to cater to people’s emotions and beliefs, to make them relate their lives to the product and have them consider purchasing it. If you have given in to the urges of buying a product because you saw a commercial for it, your mind has been manipulated to think that you actually needed something you could have done without. This, in a way, can be seen as a step closer to how the government can use television to manipulate the minds of the masses.

            Aside from big companies using television to advertise their product, the government also uses it for propaganda. An example of this would be the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11, 2001. The American government took advantage of the news reports on the attacks and used it to promote waging war on the Middle East. It is safe to say that the government has successfully controlled the minds of people through television when they can change the entire public’s opinion of a certain group of people over a single event.

            People may not realize this, but whenever they sit down to watch television, their morals and mindsets are constantly changing. For example, people may find vulgar language offensive, but once they are constantly exposed to it, they start to care less about it and eventually not care at all. People also may find war wrong, but when the news kept re-playing the 9/11 attacks, the general public threw their morals out the window and agreed that waging war was the way to go.

            It way seem odd that television is used to control public opinions and actions, but it happens and will continue happening as long as television exists. Mind control is not science fiction, it is fact and it dwells in everyone’s living rooms and is used every night by their owners.