On the Hunger Games

I’ve started the Hunger Games trilogy. I saw the first movie on blu-ray and hope to finish reading before the second premiers. Ironically, I’ve read a lot of violence-filled fiction over the last year. I completed Edgar Burrough’s John Carter of Mars and Carson Napier of Venus series, and went several books into Tarzan. The Harry Potter series has plenty of violence, as does The Lord of the Rings books and the Chronicles of Narnia. Though they all contain a lot of violence, the idea that violence should only be used in self-defense is strong. In the Hunger Games, at least so far, our protagonist Katniss Everdeen has only killed in self-defense while most of the rest have become predators. It’s forced me to consider what I would do if I found myself in the Hunger Games. Having been mentored by the best of libertarian philosophers (and others), as well as the above stories, I could not in good conscience, nor as a matter of personal integrity become a predator in the Hunger Games. Clearly, it’s not the other tributes’ fault that they too are forced to participate by the Capitol (the state). Only if one threatened me directly would I feel justified in using deadly force. As much as the Hunger Games is a tragedy, it’s no less a tragedy that so many (the Careers) are trained as killers from childhood onward. It’s been a very disturbing read, and I’m excited to find out where it goes from here. And that’s today’s two cents.

Skyler.