Sunday, December 15, 2013
Capitalism, A love story, the Hunger games edition
Contrary to the youtube video that we watched in class suggested, I felt like the Hunger games was a very pro-capitalist, anti-big government book and film. In the book, the government has total control over society due to the fear they have instilled into the people. The threat and lack of any real knowledge about what really happened to district thirteen keeps the population in line. District thirteen rebelled against the government and wound up being destroyed *spoiler alert* or so we think in the first book, they are actually just living underground. The government even has the power to take one boy and one girl child from each of the twelve districts and have them killed, well all but one, for the entertainment of the masses in a roman gladiator-like way. The masses are starving and unmotivated to do anything that might help the government. Katniss and Gale don't listen to the rules set up by the government, they leave the district, hunt, and barter illegally. In fact, they even try to sabotage the government once or twice. These characteristics of the system of government in the Hunger Games point directly at the flaws of a socialist or communist government of any government that is to powerful for that matter. A capitalist society has a government that is small and has minimal control, it is only there for absolute necessities. In capitalist societies, the individuals works for their own benefit and therefore they tend to work harder and have less problem with the government. We also see Katniss unallied going into the Hunger Games, and therefore she is able to protect herself and forward her own interests, even when it involves working with others for short periods. All of the other challengers die, there alliances do not help. (with the exception of Peeta, however he is working against his "allies" from the very beginning) These books stress the importance of putting oneself first, in terms of government and survival. You cannot possibly help others if you have not helped yourself first!
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