I think Cannabis will be legalized once the current generation gets into power. Right now, there’s a big stigma against it among the older generation, but nearly all of today’s youth have tried it at least once. I don’t think it would instantly solve as many problems as you say – legalizing a product usually lowers its price, for example (which would mean that those farmers would make less money off it.
Getting rid of TV would certainly be a radical change, but I don’t it would be for the better. Without commercials, companies would just find other ways of advertising their products. Granted, you’d get rid of Bill O’Reilly and the cornucopia of awful reality TV shows, but you’d lose Rome, Deadwood, Weeds, Rugrats, The Simpsons, Dave Chapelle, Firefly, Bugs Bunny, Futurama, etc. etc. Also, I must say that I think bad parenting has far more to do with a given child’s lack of respect than “rude cartoon characters”.
Also, though this is an entirely separate discussion, I feel I must point out that very few people (who anyone listened to) predicted the economic crisis, and that its causes are far more complex than simple lack of confidence.
Anyway, the point is that you can’t judge an entire medium based on a few bad apples. There are bad books, bad comics, and bad radio, and though TV is particularly pervasive and ingrained in our popular culture, the fact that it can reach such a large audience can, in many cases, be a wonderful thing.