John Hayward: The coming of the Hunger Games
Jim just had John Hayward on the radio program during the second hour today. They discussed his article in Human Events on the upcoming movie The Hunger Games.
Here’s a snippet of Hayward’s article conclusion. do head over to read the entire thing. He extensively quotes John Tamny’s article in Forbes.
Pop culture matters. It provides a powerful medium for the transmission of ideas, although it’s frequently underestimated by conservatives because of its superficial frivolity, and the blinding hypocrisy of its power players … Assuming the Hunger Games movie is reasonably faithful to the book, we may be about to witness the arrival of a truly subversive blockbuster at the multiplexes. It’s been too long since we had one of those.
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I have mentioned before that this book is solid indictment of the gross misuse of power by centralized governments. I am fascinated to see what the Progressives (in other words almost everyone) in the entertainment industry have to say. It will not even be on an Oscar ballot no matter how good it is.
I don’t read fiction especially when the media seems behind it-I suspect some strong, smart,sexy sweetheart with a suspect ideological message in the movie.
Dilemma – Do I limit my comment just to Steve’s admitted “snippet” of Hayward’s article? OR do I comment on the full Hayward article based on the even longer Tamney article. I read them both.? I’m going for the whole shebang. ? Hayward quotes? Tamney,”the way hunger is used as a tool of oppression by socialist tyrannies”.? We can look to 1700 Great Britain to see a tyrannical govt. although it was not socialist then.? There was drought and a potato blight leaving many in the Ireland part of Great Britain to starve. It was such a tyrannical govt. that Jonathan Swift was moved to write ” A Modest Proposal” an essay to suggest the Irish eat their babies. Satire at it’s most biting, and not? a much different story than “The Hunger Games” sounds like.?
I know, you still think I’m off base. But in 1776, a courageous group of Revolutionaries thought Great Britain was despotic and tyrannical. It led us to Declare our Independence from them. Tea Anyone?
P.S. I’m going to see it today.
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Thanks for bringing this up Steve.? For me, the most succinct comment from Tammy’s article was this:
“Gale Hawthorne, Katniss?s best friend back in District 12, ably fills the role of wise government skeptic. Katniss imagines him saying in response to the government?s efforts ?to plant hatred between the starving workers of the Seam and those who can generally count on supper?, that ?It?s to the Capitol?s advantage to have us divided among ourselves.? Of course it is.
Free societies, personally and economically, don?t rely on government. Instead, a natural harmony eventuates as self-interested individuals create what they?re best at so that they can trade their production for that of others. The problem for political types under such a scenario is that people realize not only that they don?t need government, but that even those who can?t provide for themselves are taken care of thanks to the benevolent doings of those who can.
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Maybe I’m not the only person who thinks our elected officials prefer to have us bitterly divided in so many ways.? Divide and conquer the free people, that’s how they will…