> The licence funds watchable content

If everyone agreed with that you wouldn't have to force them to pay the license and could sell subscriptions instead.

> I kind-of pity the US and other countries without a strong public TV system

I don't. At least they don't have to pay for their propaganda.

> Actually I have access to three TV markets via satellite (which includes UK with the BBC) and the amount of good content free to receive and record it much better than what Netflix offers.

That's like saying dumpster diving gets you better food than the sewers.

> On great thing about CRTs is that there's no computer inside monitoring what you watch.

Weird tangent when there are plenty of computer monitors based on non-CRT technologies. If CRTs were still being made today they wouldn't have any less anti-features.