DTV ― A Glimpse of the Future

I can be counted among those who, if given a preference, would opt to view television via digital signal rather than the arcane twentieth century analog version.  This is especially true because I am among the thirteen million or so Americans who continue to utilize the economically expedient over-the-air broadcast signal.  The transition undertaking is a sad saga, however, because it is illustrative of the manifest consequences inherent in any mandate issued to a private industry from the omnipotent federal government.  Indeed, the source of true sorrow comes from the realization that the digital television conversion provides a glimpse into the future of policies and their corresponding consequences under the new administration.  The observable reality, be it Social Security and the Medicare system or the prospective government seizure of the healthcare industry, is that when government is in control of a venture or industry that by all measure should remain under the control of the private sector, dismal failure is the end result.  Social Security is bankrupt, Medicare is broken, and socialized state-run healthcare has been disastrous in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Hawaii (with the latter program lasting all of seven months prior to the state forsaking it altogether). 

 

The belief in and awareness of government incapability has been an honored tenet of conservatism in this nation for decades.  Our friends on the left side of the spectrum see despair and despondence on a Sinclairian scale across the fruited plain, and subsequently propose government intervention to alleviate perceived abhorrent citizen conditions.  Yet they fail to see (or simply refuse to) the manifest government intrusion which caused the desolation in the first place.  No where in our economy is this more apparent than in the recession-inducing mortgage crisis last fall.  Government mandates required banks and loan corporations to issue sub-prime notes to individuals and households with no means to repay them.  The nefarious “NINJA” loans became a part of the common vernacular even among finance laypersons.  And, of course, what better way to rectify a government produced and prolonged crisis than by injecting more government mandates, regulation, and control?  At least that seems to be the conviction of the leadership on Capitol Hill and the White House. 

 

Regarding the most recent government failure, and there are plenty from which to choose, $40 coupons were being given to subsidize digital converter boxes to aid in the transition ― not surprisingly, the well ran dry.  Consequently, an estimated six million of the thirteen million Americans who depend on the free signal would have lost all television viewing capacity on February 17^th, the original transition date.  With the funds gone and the conversion postponed, government impotence is on full display for all to see.  The reality should not escape the conversation that we are still talking about a television signal.  Yet somehow we the people are supposed to put our faith and trust in an all-feeling, all-caring, all-powerful paternalistic government entrusted to manage our healthcare, our retirement, and our economy?  The specters of Hoover, Roosevelt, and Johnson seem to be rearing their ugly heads in this resurrection of state economic planning and control.

 

What will be the result when we face a shortage of doctors rather than mere $40 coupons?  How will people react when instead of missing American Idol or Dancing With The Stars, they are unable to find a doctor?  What will happen when the same inept, incapable government attempts to infringe upon the freedom and liberty of private American citizens?

 

Richard Nixon’s successful campaign for the presidency was provided a boost by the chaotic backdrop of the Democratic National Convention in the fall of 1968.  The openly displayed party turmoil occurring inside the arena could only be outperformed by the clash between Vietnam protestors and the Chicago Police Department outside the arena.  Richard Nixon then presented the nation with the question, “if they (the Democrats) cannot unite their own party, how can they unite the country?”  And the glaring question with which we are faced in our present crisis is, “if they (the Federal Government) cannot successfully manage a television signal transition for thirteen million Americans, how can they adequately oversee and provide healthcare for forty million?  The answer:  they cannot.