The greed and danger in plastics, cable TV and being lured into false retail rewards

Everything changes eventually, and it usually has to do with greed. We see that in the growing dangers of plastics, and the metamorphosis of cable TV and retail stores.

Free/Sunday Feb 4, 2024

"Plastics." It was just a word the symbolized a moment of skepticism of youth portrayed in the 1967 Mike Nichols movie "The Graduate" starring Dustin Hoffman as a 21-year-old rebellious college graduate.

An older guest at a party gives Hoffman's character one word of advice about the future he should contemplate as he embarks on a new career path, "Plastics."

Most people saw it as a symbolism of the unimaginative world he might enter. Meaningless. Boring. But few saw it for what it really was, a plague on our society. Maybe because they were lured away by the magic of the movie's musical theme, "The Sound of Silence," by Simon and Garfunkel, also two rebellious heroines from that long past era.

I was young when I watched that film, identifying with "Ben's" concern about his future. But today, as a senior, I see how terrible "plastic" has become.

A series of molecules called polymers, plastics are easily produced. They are durable and used in almost everything. So durable, they last forever and are not biodegradable.

Plastic is among the world's most prominent waste and its survival has allowed it to litter its way into the oceans gathered by the currents to form huge growing islands of floating plastic trash in our oceans. Each of the five main “Ocean gyres” has one.

It's called The Pacific Garbage Patch. Not a doll you give to children at Christmas of Hannukah, but a dangerous pollutant. It doesn't dissolve but it does break up and form small plastic pellets that are ingested by the oceans’ fish, and then ingested by humans.

A lesser but more immediate annoyance is for senior citizens who have to deal with the difficulty of removing plastic from wraps and containers used to cover retail sale items.

The plastic is used as a protective means for the retail stores, to prevent items from being stolen. The plastic covers are so difficult to remove. You need to use a knife to cut open the plastic to get at the overpriced item you just purchased. Using a knife in any circumstance always has a 20 percent risk of harm.

The Plastics industry is merely a symbol of the greed that plagues humanity. The profits that come from plastics overshadow the danger plastic poses to Earth's lifeforms, so we shrug it off because we can't do anything, as individuals.

Greed, overshadows pride in work product, too. Greed drives policies, politics and almost every aspect of society from the most complicated to the most mundane and taken for granted.

Another example of this is the cable media industry.

When cable TV first came out, it was cheap and it relied on a promise that was quickly broken. Cable TV would charge you a monthly fee and provide you with a wide range of "free" content absent of advertising.

That was so appealing to our cynical world. The monthly fees started at around $40 and gave us alternatives to the limited channels we had on our once simple TV sets -- Channels 2, 5, 7, 9, and with a wired loop, UHF channels 26 and 44.

But with greed grew profits and power, and pretty soon, cable TV prices increased dramatically. The promises made were quickly broken by cable providers that began partnering with government.

As soon as you add government to anything, you see a shift from public service to corporate profits.

Today, cable TV subscriptions costs in the hundreds of dollars a month. You have to pay extra on the cable systems to watch certain previously free programs. And, you have to purchase high demand programs such as movies and new series. Cable TV has segmented, charging for streaming services like HBO, Showtime, Paramount, Amazon Prime, and others.

Netflix, Apple+ and Hulu are the absolute best when it comes to getting the most quality products for the least amount of money.

I am lucky to own a main home and a summer home. (Once the mortgage was paid off on the first home, I figured I'd save the mortgage money, but did not. So, I bought a lake home as an investment. Instead of "plastics," the man should have told Ben "property.")

But at the Lake House, I was paying about $150 a month for basic satellite TV service. That was just to have “something” on TV to watch in addition to the separate streaming services I subscribe to each month.

Last week, I cancelled my DirecTV (AT&T) satellite service and installed something called "Roku." Roku is basically an internet box that provides a thousand FREE TV options for shows and movies, mostly old or less popular. It also offers higher-end paid subscription streaming services, that you don't have to buy.

I installed it and I now save $150 a month.

It feels like a small victory in a world where consumers are constantly being defeated by corporate greed, government taxes and diversity -- one low-cost movie source that has turned into 20 costly sources.

But the retail giants who embrace this formula for economic plague are also concerting into this new system.

For years, I favored and bought all my expensive technology from Best Buy, the big Box retailer. They gave me rewards points for each purchase and I would often cash in $20 to $50 in rewards when making purchases — Like my credit card which gives me 2. percent back in rewards, too.

But Best Buy cancelled the Rewards program, and now you are told you must buy a membership to get rewards and discounts.

There are ways to deal with this trend. Instead of Best Buy, I go to Walmart, now. Walmart has grown into a better store.

I worry that Roku is going to eventually force me to pay a fee for the basic services, once they lure everyone into to using their “free” services. That probably, might happen.

In the meantime, navigate through the system and share your solutions. Drop cable and install Roku. Its wide range of free programming is worth it.

You can purchase streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Apple+ for the quality programs, series and movies.

You have probably noticed I have had to do that, too, right here, adding a subscription fee for certain columns. although I offer many free columns, like this one.

At least I have been writing free columns for 45 years.

I guess some might say I have graduated to the world of plastics, cable TV evolution and greed myself.