The Hunger Games Mentality

If you have not already read the Hunger Games series I am sure you have at least heard of it.  If not, let me explain the premise.  The book takes place in the future where North America has been divided into 12 districts rather than 50 states like it is today.  One guy and one girl from each district are chosen each year in a drawing to participate in what is called the Hunger games.  The participants are put into an arena and forced to fight to the death against each other using whatever weapons or resources are provided for them. There can only be one victor in the end.  The novels depict a very different world from the one we live in today.  One where human life is valued much less than it is today.

Photo via Google by the guardian

Trying to imagine such a thing happening in our world today or even in the future is so unfathomable and seemingly out of the realm of possibilities.  But is it really?  Is it interesting to look back just to the beginning of the 20^thcentury during the two world wars.  One could say that human life was valued far less than it is today.  For example, in the battle of Normandy where the allied troops invaded Normandy, France, soldiers were basically used as bait.  Soldiers upon soldiers were sent off in groups knowing that the fate of thousands upon thousands of them would inevitably be death.  Now, there are many differences between the two world wars and the Hunger Games because the Hunger Games was created as a sport and as a game to be televised and a sort of entertainment for the citizens, while the participation of the United States in the World Wars was to protect the American people and the interests of the nation.  However, a similarity can be found between the World Wars and the Hunger Games because the participation in both events was to show their strength and power to an extent.  The United States intention was, I believe, mostly to protect the American population, especially in the case of World War 2 after the attack at Pearl Harbor, but there was an element of showing their power by producing the most advanced equipment and having the most efficient and powerful army.  Then the Hunger Games’ purpose, more obviously so, was to show to the people how much power the government, or the capital, had over the people and how any sort of opposition would result in direct punishment.  Although the intents of the two events different in certain ways, egos are timeless and universal characteristics of humans.

Photo via Google by Minimum Wage Historian

Now, can we say that the World Wars and the Hunger Games are at the same level of severity?  Many more people were killed in the World Wars but the motives behind the Hunger Games were far more selfish and demonic.  But is it so ridiculous to envision a society doing something as inhumane as the Hunger Games?  I mean, in ancient Roman times there were fights to death purely for entertainment.  Even in our more recent past, people were killed partially because of large egos and thirst for power.  Now, however, in America at least, the value of human life in war situation has changed dramatically.  If 10 people were to die in Iraq, that would be pretty major news, while thousands dying daily in the World Wars was common.

Society is always changing so is it really that unreasonable for something as severe as the Hunger Games to actually happen in the distant future?  And is it fair to say that the Hunger Games mentality existed in the World Wars—fight to the death in order to protect your best interests?  Even today, it seems ridiculous to say but this sort of fight to the “death” or last man standing at the end can be seen just in reality TV shows.  Contestants vote each other off, lie and deceive in order to get money. They will do whatever it takes to protect their best interest.  I am not saying that reality TV is going to cause some sort of uprising or that they have that much of a dramatic impact on society because I enjoy watching them and understand it is a game and purely for entertainment.  But how far is society willing to go to entertain?  Is the Hunger Game mentality very much alive in the world today but just in a much less severe form?  If society is constantly changing, it is interesting, and scary, to think about how much it can change in 100 years, 50 years or even 10 years.  Human life is valued much more than it has been in the past, but who knows how much that can change.