Although as a denizen of what we call the modern era I have it in me to appreciate the virtues of both town and country, I can't help noticing, as a result of encountering both of these domains anew in the company of my now 1,000-day-old daughter, that they are not of equal virtue.
When we pass through the countryside, she says things like: "The birds are singing", or, in Irish, "The sun is shining today"; or, in either language, "The moon is asleep." When we pass through a streetscape, she says to me, "Daddy, I love McDonald's."
One of the things that intrigue me about living in the modern world is that many of our ostensibly progressive voices feel obliged to pay homage to all aspects of modernity, including those which are not unambiguously virtuous. It is as though their own lack of choice, or unwillingness to make choices, has required that they perform intellectual gymnastics in order to be able to live with themselves.
The problem is, of course, that in so doing they help create the common cultural rationalisation that maintains our collective lack of vigilance. Often in the modern world the best an honest person can do is be aware of his own hypocrisy.
In Vietnam two years ago, 200 workers were poisoned while spraying plastic toys for McDonald's. They asked for compensation and were sacked. I know this, and yet I've been to McDonald's with my daughter. There is something about the place that she likes. She also likes their toys. She is not yet old enough for me to explain to her why I would prefer we did not go there.
It is out of this self-inflicted hypocrisy that I feel cause to be grateful for the existence and the doggedness of people like the film-maker Bob Quinn, who are prepared to pay a price for their principles so as to continue upholding them with clarity and conviction.
For the past few Christmases, Bob Quinn, who is also a member of the RTE Authority, has courageously absented himself from meetings of that body in protest at the continuing indifference to the exploitation of children by the State-owned television channel, especially in the run-up to Christmas.
His objections extend from child-centred advertising in general to, in particular, adverts for toys, especially those toys which are produced in the Third World, where child labour is widespread. His consistency alone demands that we do not dismiss Bob Quinn as a crank: it is almost 30 years since he walked out of his job as a producer/director in RTE television for much the same reasons as he is protesting today.
The Irish toy market is worth in the region of £100 million each year, with Christmas accounting for more than two-thirds of this figure. Most of these toys are produced in countries like China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. The work is done mainly by women and children, working in sweatshop conditions. Average wages are between £1 and £2 a day for working days of between 10 and 20 hours.
In some cases we're talking about children of 12, 13 and 14 working 20-hour days, seven days a week for less than £10. A Chinese worker would have to work three months to earn as much as is spent in this country on toys for one child at Christmas.
In Bangkok some years ago, a child worker in a toy factory who lost a hand in a machine was given £15 compensation and let go. In 1993, a fire at the Lader Industrial Company in Thailand killed 188 workers and injured 500. An inquiry found that faulty design, lack of fire exits and poor safety practices meant that workers were unable to escape. The main door was locked and there were no fire extinguishers. The Kader factory produced many toys on sale in Irish shops, including Cabbage Patch dolls and plastic replicas of Bart Simpson.
The advertising industry argues that the loss of £1 million to RTE would result in the diversion of this money to other channels. It claims that no evidence has been presented to show that these adverts actually have an influence on the volume of toys sold. The question then arises: why bother advertising toys if advertising has no effect? E television, demanding its money back.
In fact, advertising aimed at children is infinitely more effective than advertising aimed at adults, for the simple reason that adults, because they usually must pay for things with their own money are to some extent restrained by price-consciousness. They will often choose the yellowpack version rather than the heavily-promoted, dearer product. Children, however, have no such scruples, and will insist on the promoted product precisely because it is promoted.
The toy and advertising industries, of course, are fond of pointing out that there is no public outcry against advertising aimed at children. Thus, it is suggested, this issue is not a problem. Bob Quinn points out that 59 per cent of the Irish audience feel that, in general, there is too much advertising on television, while 57 per cent believe the medium is overwhelmingly influenced by the agendas of the companies that advertise.
The reason for this apparent contradiction is simple: the medium which we are told is in the hands of its operators - producers, directors, editors, journalists - is in reality in the hands of those who pay the piper. An RTE survey carried out some years ago, but never published, showed that 40 per cent of adults think there is too much commercial targeting of children.
As Bob Quinn has pointed out, if that survey had been confined to those on whom the subject bears directly - i.e. parents of young children - the percentage would perhaps have been double that figure.
Because we have adverts on TV all the time, we assume it is the natural way of things. Not so. In Sweden there is a ban on advertising aimed at children. In Italy no commercial breaks are allowed during children's programmes. In Austria, advertising is limited to 25 minutes per day. In Denmark, commercials are not allowed to interrupt any programmes. In Belgium no commercials are allowed on either of the two public channels, although programme sponsorship is permitted. Ireland, which likes to present itself as a child-centred society is less concerned about this issue than most comparable societies.
Bob Quinn makes three proposals, which I believe should now be taken up by government. One, the statutory blocking of advertising in half-hour periods at specified times, to enable parents to supervise more easily what messages their children are receiving. Two, a ban on child-directed advertising. Three, an embargo on toy advertising for the months of October, November and December each year. This would cost RTE less than 1 per cent of its total income.
He also proposes an alliance between aid agencies, poverty agencies, parents' groups, trade unions and churches to create social resistance to the continued exploitation of children in this manner.