This week we talked a lot about television and the media and how it affects our lives and perspectives on life. I want continue on the idea "What if there was never TV?". Growing up, we had TV's in my house but they were very rarely on. I would watch an occasional show or a movie but I hardly ever if not, never, just turned on the TV when I was bored. I then went to boarding school where we were not permitted TV's in our rooms, there was one TV in the common room the we all had to share. Living in a single in college, again, I did not watch much TV. My sophomore year I had a roomate that always had the TV on. She claimed she wasnt 'watching' it and she just needed it on for noise but it was on every time I walked in the room. I found this strange but in living with two other roommates since then, I guess I am the different one. I havnt decided if this constant stream of television is a cultral attribute to Americans, but in general, people from home (Canada) do not watch nearly as much TV as my American friends.

Although culturally very similar countries, one huge difference I notice between the countries is the intensity of "the Cult of the New" amongst Americans. Maybe its because I am at Rollins in a community that would condone that type of material gain, but I have never seen so many people so consumed by consumer goods. It makes me wonder if it is television - shows like the Kardashians, Gossip Girl and Real Housewives - that influence this compulsive need to have more.