Does anyone know about British giving TV sets for free during their depression? ( conspiracy )

submitted by Warnos44

I was trying to find more information about this to share with a friend. It was something I read about a long, long time ago and found very shocking. But I wanted to find data to support it and ofc google isnt cooperating in my searches. From what I had read/remember, TPTB found the power of television propaganda and hypnosis so powerful that they bought up all of the old TV's from the US and gave, for free, to their citizens (during the depression! Talk about a great example of "nothing in life is free"). The person who had written of the account had lived during this time and he said that he remembered very distinctly how every weekend everyone would gather at public places to discuss concerns and common interests of their locale (like at the park), and within one week of the televisions being handed out, barely a soul went to the gatherings any more and it was the end of local social/political strength and representation/awareness for the benefit of the people. I've spent about an hour trying to find anything at all relating to this. So I appreciate you guys' input!

WhyNoDonuts

Not every American home had tv sets in the fifties, let alone the 30s. Maybe one in four, and those were folks with homes. They were expensive also, and broke down frequently.

madhatter67

I have to call bullshit, or at least some confusion in the account....

The first UK TV broadcast was at the end of 1936, and even in the 50's TV ownership was only just starting to reach the masses (this was often done on a rental basis by the working class, up until the 70's...and may be the source of the story, mebbe the rental companies bought up old US stock?)

I'd imagine there is also some conflation of the effect radio had on the population, as people would have started to get their news from the official government propaganda machine (the BBC as it's known!) around the time of the depression...though even radio sets were a luxury the common man couldn't afford until post war...stories of whole neighbourhoods gathering to listen to radio broadcasts in the home of the one person in the area who could afford one are pretty common in the WW11 era

TV and radio weren't used as mindless entertainment for the masses until much later really...probably the 70's was where that really got going, and though it wasn't an overnight thing, it pretty much had the effect you mention

Optick

That is very concerning. I don't have any information, but I wish you luck.