How about $200k? Or $500k? Well, I guess it all depends on the state of your marriage, but the bigger question is this: what would you do for money? I ask because I’m getting a little disturbed at just how far people are willing to go these days for a large wad of cash. Case in point - The Moment Of Truth.

I don’t watch it, I generally try and stay away from television shows that aren’t at least slightly informative (although I do watch Lost…sorry). And these kinds of intrusive, home-wrecking reality shows are a cancer in our society, in my humble opinion.

Not content with being voyeurs through shows like Big Brother, Survivor and The Real World, we’ve gone one step further. Let’s intrude into the private-most thoughts of people and see just what they’ll reveal for the prospect of being a little but richer. Notice I said "propect." The money is dangled out there like a carrot in front of a donkey, but people often walk away empty-handed and with a shambolic life to put back together.

This clip that follows is one of the most brutal from The Moment Of Truth. The poor husband must have known something was going on, but maybe he thought he had a stable marriage and could make a little cash from it; big mistake. Huge. 


 

Fear Factor is another such show that seems to be pushing the limits for a little bit of money. This girl is literally horrified at the idea of eating a spider, but the money waved in front of her is too much to turn down. It's an older clip but one that sticks out for me from the viral emails I have received.


 

What is going on? In my dad’s time, dignity and self-respect were things you just could not buy at any price. These days, not only will we happily sell them, we’ll do it in front of millions of people! Is the mighty dollar so mighty that it can force us to do anything? What’s next I wonder? Lose your virginity on air for $1 million? Or how about risking your life, yes your life, for a cool $10 million?

Don’t think it can happen? Well, I leave you with this video clip from The Running Man, a fairly poor film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger that was made around 20 years ago. But, it did have a point. It warned us that society is becoming so obsessed with both money and television that we’ll eventually live and die by them. How true.

 


 

Back then, in the late 80s, it seemed far-fetched. These days, a show like “Climbing For Dollars” would fit quite happily into any prime time schedule. Please NBC, ABC, CBS...don't get any ideas.