> > Sure, it was possible to be a functioning member of society without a television for a long time, but it's downright impractical now.
>
> Lies!
> Or am I not a functioning member of society?

Impractical, not impossible. Also note that when I say "television" I mean the physical piece of hardware, not the tripe that gets broadcast from television stations. The fact that you have "something that looks like a television" to play videos on occasionally is sufficient. It's a convenience on certain occasions.

I also should have said that there are certain uncommon lifestyles that are always going to find technological innovations less impractical to do without than others. Let's face it: your lifestyle at home isn't the norm. It's a lifestyle I respect and wish were more preserved today, but the reality is that family farms and similar kinds of environments are less and less common. More and more people on this continent, even those in rural neighborhoods, find themselves with modern needs, even if those needs aren't of the day-to-day sort (as it is with me, being a software engineer and webmaster). My assertion was meant to be taken as a generality.