I have just gotten through part one of the first Hunger Games book. I look at the way society is set up in the book with the masses being in massive poverty while a lucky few live in luxury. Looking at modern day America i see the same thing happening slowly. Programs such as food stamps come under attack and workers unions are shunned all while wages continue to freefall and jobs above poverty level become scarce. Instead of trying to reverse it our politicians and most of the population cheer this on and do everything they can to speed it up. If this continues for another decade or so i think out world will closely resemble that of Panem with most of the population in the dire (squirrel eating) poverty that was described. Do you agree? What are your thoughts on where America is headed?



PS: America was headed down this road once before. After the civil war and during the industrial revolution as employment went from agriculturally based to factory based more and more of the population fell into grinding poverty while a small minority lived in the lap of luxury. This continued until the union movement of the 1930's. As the unions got stronger they where able to spread the wealth from the top to the workers not only enough to put decent food on the table but enough to provide what in Katniss's world would be described as luxurious standard of living. However in our modern world unions have lost support and seem to be dying and we seem to be reverting to the societal model of the industrial revolution. Many in poverty and a very small class of super rich. What do you think?

Yes it is true.