Let's  start with myself. I am an 18 year old male who has lived the most of  his life not so far away from a small city called Newcastle, in New  South Wales, Australia. I grew up in the 90's, which means that  although I missed out on the 70's and 80's era, I was there for the  beginning of commercial internet, when television was starting to have  a greater quality but still aired situation comedy and shows that  didn't require you to purchase a load of merchandise, when business was  starting to tighten their grip on the world, TV news was still to an  extent a trustworthy source and chocolate bars were a dollar.

Yes,  these were the times I, and others just like me, grew up in. And  although I cherish the 90's not just because it held my childhood, but  because it was a time where everything looked like it was starting to  balance out. Unfortunately, we know it didn't. I hate the path it  created for the 00's. That's right, the two-thousandies. There have  always been problems in the world; Chernobyl, World Wars, 9/11, but  just for now, let us focus on what led us to where we are now.

In  the 90's, Television and what children grow up with is critical. We  watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we watched Seinfeld, we watched  the Ratites and the Ferals and we watched early episodes of the  Simpsons and Gumby. Most movies aimed at children were spectacularly  drawn, there were no 3D movies, but the quality of film during the 90's  was at a much higher standard than ever before.

What  was so good about TV back then? First and foremost, television had more  entertainment value then it does today. TV had advertisements, but were  they longer and more frequent then the shows today? Do they advertise  on top of the show we are trying to watch? No. Because back then, no  one even thought of that – not because they couldn't do it, but because  they had morals and respect for the shows they were presenting. We  can't say we have that now; the end of a show is usually thrown into  the corner of the TV while they fling on an Ad. If I was in the credits  for that show I'd be pissed, you can't read any of those flying by  while they have an ad on for the upcoming Big Brother.  They are there for a reason, because those people worked hard to bring  you that show you just watched on the lounge while gulfing down that  pack of Doritos.

What do we  see on TV today? I think we can blame Pokémon. Before Pokémon,  Television wasn't the sole purpose of brainwashing kid's minds to buy a  heap of merchandise. Sure, there was still the option to buy it, but we  didn't have to CATCH ALL 150! CATCH ALL 150! KNOW ALL 150! POKEMON!

*cough*.  Little kids loved it, and so did Channel Ten. It was this form of  marketing that spawned today's generation of Cartoons. There are no  cartoons anymore that don't want you to buy a little furry toy of the  characters.

There's a reason why this is  happening. And it's not just on TV. The companies that had begun to  grow now literally have no competition, and they know. And it isn't  just in the broadcasted world.

Before the  Internet, kids used to have to call their friends or go down and see  them, either at school or arrange to see someone at the shops. The only  way you could pirate a game or some music was if you knew someone who  originally owned it, and even then you'd need to know someone who knew  what a burner was and how to burn a disc in Windows 95. Statistically  speaking this was quite possible for the rest of the world, but I doubt  there were many people that practiced this outside of America and  Japan. Once technology and the internet finally became cheaply  available to most people, we all know the problem that this lead to.  But for the average person, this isn't a problem; it's a godsend that  we can get our music and games for free. It's the companies that try to  make as much money as they can that let us know that what we are doing  is wrong.

With Kids now wanting to be on  the internet when they get home, and parents giving them mobile phones  at an earlier age, we have become reclusive and scared from ourselves.  Where we see a father playing with his kids outside and think it's  disgusting that he touches them and picks them up, or puts them on his  shoulders. We give our kids mobiles so they can contact us if  something's wrong right away. We have Santa wear gloves because we  think he might touch the children when he's getting a photo taken. We  lock our windows upstairs because we think someone will climb up, get  in and take our Dell Computer or something. Don't let your children over their friend's house either, their parents could be paedophiles.

Back  in the 90's, Business was open and no single company could really  control what they sold, because there was usually more than one  business that sold that item. And because of that, the prices usually  stayed low because they wanted you to buy their push pops or chocolate buttons. The problem now is, those companies have found a victor, and by god, there go the spoils. Right now, any Big W or Bakers delight could pump the price of bread up to $10. What are you going to do about  it? Well right now the media's pushing this idea that we are all lazy,  and its working. They tell us we can't do anything about it. We, as  people, the masses and masses of people, can't do anything about the  rising prices of petrol. Because we are lazy and those prices are how  they are because of some magical lack of petrol. I don't see petrol  becoming lacking; all of our Toyota's seem to be working fine.

Now  really imagine, if we pumped up prices of items. Way up. If our toilet  paper costed $40. The majority of people would think it outrageous, but  still buy it. That's what's happening with petrol. They are pushing the  prices every day, because without it, our mechanical normal will cease  to function. And BP, Big W and Shell know you can't do jack shit. In 5 years from now our petrol will be $5 a litre and everyone will still be buying it.

The  generation I live in can't do shit. The people that own these companies  are still in their 40's, and they aren't budging. We are stuck between  the crack of the previous generation of the baby boomers and the  generation that's growing up today, because we are of a ripe age to be  put to work for squat and have to work our asses off to pay off rent or  support starting a family.

And the next generation's going to have it worse. They have grown up thinking Bratz is the way to dress and act, where some kids think Paris Hilton is someone to look up to and where Big Brother is a legitimate TV show that makes up what we are supposed to watch. A  place where nothing can be presented without trying to make money or  where freedom of speech can be blocked out with media interviews  telling us they are wrong.

So why do we like  the internet so much? Amazingly enough through all this, the internet  has been left free to use and anyone who logs on, is pretty much equal  no matter what happens. Because it is still in its early forms compared  to all the other technologies in the world, there are no real rules or  boundaries applied to it. Yet. There are currently a few acts in  America trying to block websites and slow them down, unless the owners  of the sites pay more money to the internet providers. Even the  internet isn't safe from this world.

And now, I'm going to go download some music and break out a game of Mortal Kombat, while drinking some Milo.

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-Evan.