When I first paid attention to "The Hunger Games" trilogy, it was because my youngest children were volunteering in a local branch of the city library, and reading the books to younger children. As I became familiar with Suzanne Collins' work, I realized this was the successor to the "Harry Potter" phenomenon.
But these books interested me much more than J. K. Rowling's, because they clearly were dystopian visions of a world gone mad in ways that felt all too familiar. Over the past decade-plus, an eerie feeling that the novels were predictive has revisited me again and again.
There are so many parallels: Reality is only a TV show; there are vast disparities of wealth between the capital and the districts; climate change lurks in plain view; the sacrifice of younger generations is celebrated; young women emerge as heroes; players in the system need to have rich sponsors from the overlord class; there is ubiquitous surveillance and tracking; rebellion bubbles to the surface; and an authoritarian government has arisen to contain it all.
Within the story are the insights that when it comes to the masses, the only more powerful emotion than fear is hope and the need for a populist leader to marshal that hope into action.
Living as we do, day to day, watching each iteration of the newsreel as it flickers by, it may be difficult to grasp what is happening in our world, but we could do much worse than to listen to the voice of our artists.
Collins is one of those voices. Since these are ostensibly young adult fiction books, it's not surprising that many adults may not have read them. But there is an easy, cheap alternative -- just rent or buy the first of four films in the series, called "The Hunger Games."
In it, the actor Jennifer Lawrence plays Katniss Everdeen, a reluctant hero who emerges from obscurity to wage war against the evil empire. In real life, I am reminded of young Greta Thunberg and her global campaign to combat climate change.
And as we sift through the wreckage of our political system usurped by Donald Trump these past four years, one point that is crystal clear is that we have already come horribly close to the rise of authoritarianism.
Even as his protracted battle to overturn the democratic results of the election are portrayed by national media as a joke, I'm not laughing because what concerns me is where this society is headed, more than where we have just been,
By demonizing the Republican officials certifying the votes in the states that swung the election away from him to Biden, Trump is educating his fanatic followers as to what they can do in the future. If QAnon activists take over the electoral college system in a. few states, future elections may indeed be subverted, and an authoritarian state could formally emerge.
No we are not out of the woods yet, and just as in the film, there are fires coming -- both wildfires like those that devastated the western states this year but also the man-made fires that nearly consumed young Katniss as she struggled to survive.
An artist has spoken; we all would be wise to listen and prepare for a very difficult future that lies ahead.
***
Look at the news:
*On Oct. 30, the student news site of duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Kentucky, published a bombshell of an investigation: While training officers, the Kentucky State Police had used a slideshow that quoted Adolf Hitler. The reporters behind the story were 16-year-old Satchel Walton and his younger brother Cooper. On the day the student site published the story, Satchel decided to quiet his nerves by going to play cards with a friend in a park. But soon, his phone rang: The governor’s office was calling and wanted to offer a comment. The brothers first learned about the slideshow from their dad, an attorney who was working on a case representing someone who had been shot by a police officer in eastern Kentucky. The legal team gathered the training slides that featured quotes from Hitler and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as part of the discovery in that case. When he saw the slides, Satchel immediately knew it was an important story. “I thought that it needed to be out there and it needed to be out there quick. And so I said, ‘I can do that,’ ” says Satchel, speaking over Zoom from his family’s attic. (Reveal)
* California's first Gen-Z lawmaker, Alex Lee (25) was elected to the state assembly. He’ll also be the first openly bisexual person to become a state legislator. "I think there’s a different relationship once you understand the world is utterly screwed unless we do something about it. Why not go down swinging as hard as we can and go fight the big fight?" (NYT)
* The Grit and Glory of Dolly Parton -- More than 50 years into her legendary career, she’s still capturing America’s particular mythology — its dreams and its disappointments — like no other. (NYT)
* 9-1-1 Emergency Call System Reaching Breaking Point (CNN)
* Ivanka Trump questioned under oath in lawsuit over use of inauguration funds (Reuters)
* Newly Pardoned Flynn Calls for Martial Law and a New Election (CNN)
* A Hotter Planet Is Already Killing Americans, Health Experts Warn -- A new report presented climate change as an immediate public health danger and urged lawmakers to curb greenhouse gas emissions. (NYT)
* Big Companies Urge Biden, Congress to Take Action on Climate Change -- More than 40 corporations, including Amazon, Citigroup and Ford, said in a letter to Congress that they supported the U.S. rejoining the Paris climate accord. (WSJ)
* As an extreme year for hurricanes, wildfires and heat waves comes to an end, the head of the United Nations challenged world leaders to make 2021 the year that humanity ends its “war on nature” and commits to a future free of planet-warming carbon pollution. With new reports highlighting 2020’s record-breaking weather and growing fossil fuels extraction that triggers global warming, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered yet another urgent appeal to curb climate change. It was tinged with optimism but delivered dire warnings, as the UN gears up for a Dec. 12 virtual climate summit in France on the 5th anniversary of the landmark 2015 Paris climate agreement. (AP)
* Climate change, voracious beetles and disease are imperiling the long-term survival of a high-elevation pine tree that’s a key source of food for some grizzly bears and found across the West, U.S. officials said Tuesday. (AP)
* World leaders pledge sustainable ocean management (NHK)
* Attorney General William Barr, who has served as Trump’s right-hand man and protector, waited nearly an entire month after the 2020 presidential election to publicly state the obvious: Trump doesn’t have evidence for his conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud. “To date, we have not seen fraud on a scale that could have affected a different outcome in the election,” Barr told The Associated Press on Tuesday. [AP/HuffPost]
* Researchers around the globe are investigating whether vitamin D, known as the sunshine vitamin, can help reduce people’s risk of catching the new coronavirus and even aid in treating patients with Covid-19. (WSJ)
* Researchers @UCBerkeley Clinica de Salud del Valle de Salinas found a high percentage of Monterey County farmworkers they surveyed were unsure or unlikely to get #COVID19 vaccine. Main reasons? Concern about side effects, fear of getting COVID, distrust of government. (KQED)
* Interpol warns that COVID-19 vaccines could be targeted by criminals (Reuters)
* Trump’s Longest-Serving Cabinet Official May Start a Revolution -- Betsy DeVos’s assault on public education has provided a chance for major policy renewal. (NYT)
* Before he ousted longtime Democrat Rep. Eliot Engel in a stunning primary win earlier this year, Rep.-elect Jamaal Bowman was a public middle school principal in New York City. Now, as he prepares to enter the House, Bowman hopes to push Biden to choose a secretary of education who would understand the struggles faced by public school educators. [HuffPost]
* Enrollment By International Students In U.S. Colleges Plummets --The pandemic is a major reason, but the number of international students has been falling for years. (NPR)
* The Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use in the U.K. and will be made available starting next week, allowing Britains to get the shot developed by a U.S.-based drugmaker before Americans. Studies have shown the shot to be 95% effective and it works in all age groups. No safety concerns arose from clinical trials. [HuffPost]
* Vaccines should go first to health-care workers and nursing home residents, CDC advisory group says (WashPo)
* Barr has given extra protection to the prosecutor he appointed to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe, giving him the authority of a special counsel to complete his work without being easily fired. Barr said U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation has been narrowing to focus more on the conduct of FBI agents who worked on the Russia investigation, known as Crossfire Hurricane. [AP]
* New ‘BTS Law’ Is Passed in South Korea. An Army of Fans Rejoices. -- The oldest member of BTS was saved at the last minute from having to join the military under the country’s conscription system. (NYT)
* Trump administration sets wave of executions for days leading to Biden inauguration (WashPo)
* Trump has raised many tens of millions of dollars with the promise of overturning his election loss, but his donors are actually pouring money into a fund he could use for Big Macs, golf equipment and, if he wants, even more hush money payments. Unlike political campaign and party committees, Trump’s “Save America” is a so-called leadership PAC with far less stringent rules regulating its spending. [HuffPost]
* Frightened Don Jr. Asks If He Can Sleep In Dad’s Bed After Bad Dream About Being Indicted (The Onion)
***
"The eyes of all future generations are upon you. And if you choose to fail us, I say - we will never forgive you." -- Greta Thunberg
Said, "Where did all of the old songs go
Kids sure play funny music these days
They play it in the strangest ways"
Said, "it looks to me like they've all gone wild
It was peaceful back when I was a child"
Well, man, could it be that the girls and boys
Are trying to be heard above your noise?
And the lonely voice of youth cries "What is truth?"
Looks up and says, "Daddy, what is war?"
"son, that's when people fight and die"
The little boy of three says "Daddy, why?"
A young man of seventeen in Sunday school
Being taught the golden rule
And by the time another year has gone around
It may be his turn to lay his life down
Can you blame the voice of youth for asking
"What is truth?"
The man with the book says "Raise your hand"
"Repeat after me, I solemnly swear"
The man looked down at his long hair
And although the young man solemnly swore
Nobody seems to hear anymore
And it didn't really matter if the truth was there
It was the cut of his clothes and the length of his hair
And the lonely voice of youth cries
"What is truth?"
Has found new ways to move her feet
The young man speaking in the city square
Is trying to tell somebody that he cares
Yeah, the ones that you're calling wild
Are going to be the leaders in a little while
This old world's wakin' to a new born day
And I solemnly swear that it'll be their way
You better help the voice of youth find
"What is truth"
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