This past Friday (March 24th) my son and I went to see the movie “The Hungry Games”. I really enjoyed it, partly because the little guy/gal wins at the end even though the system is set against them. I am assuming that most of you know that hungry games is a movie about a ruling class which forces competition to death between selected members of different poor districts in a selected location and this competition is witnessed on live Tv.
What struck me was that the child who is poor and starving in Somalia may see me and you- the ones who live virtually with our fancy gadgets while they starve-as if we are the perpetrators of the Hunger games. Now surely, I tell myself and hopeful you concur, we have no power. We are part of a system and this system allows for poverty, hunger, starvation, loss of limb and life, and lack of universal human rights and dignity, including universal (world) health care. We have no control. Or do we? We play in the Hunger games by participating in the system. Perhaps the Occupy movement, though insignificant in its impact, makes a point- we, within the system, who are more privileged, will not step outside of our comfort zone because we are doing okay- we are the beneficiary of the Hungry games.
The Conscience 