The Hunger Games and Romney

What do the Hunger Games tell you about American society right now? In the movie, the images of people from the capital, of the powerful, compared to the images of Katniss's District 12 are stark contrasts. The capital is a gleaming, futuristic metropolis; District 12 is strongly reminiscent of Appalachia in the sixties. Images of the other outlying districts are equally bereft and impoverished, compared to the artificial glitz of the capital and especially its stars.

And then there's the white uniformed security forces, reminiscent both of Star Wars Imperial Guard and of our militarized riot squads today. That leads you to realize: the contour of the Hunger Games future begins to look familiar. It's the kind of class division in the future that we could have with the Republican agenda, and the security forces are already in place--to repress popular protests, like an escalation of Occupy, and to keep people in line, which they did in both District 12 and 11 in the movie.

Even if Obama wins re-election, the power of the wealthy will continue to grow, unless we elect a progressive Congress willing to stand up to them and, as a first step, pass and organize the ratification of the repeal of Citizens United. Otherwise, the kind of society envisioned by Hunger Games looks much more likely than some progressive alternative.

Why? Okay, let's posit a question: why does Romney propose spending 4% of GDP on Defense, when that would add 100's of billions to its budget with no real programmatic reason advanced.

Perhaps you need a more powerful military not only to bully the rest of the world, but to guard against popular, or populist revolution at home. Why would Romney, et al, worry about revolution? How else will people react if it becomes starkly clear to them--as clear as it was in District 12--that they are oppressed by an unfair political system, a system that was supposed to be democratic?

So, if you propose policies that will intensify inequality, which Romney-Ryan have done, then you are also logically required to beef up domestic security: to guard against popular protest--especially if you can successfully steal their votes--and enough people know it.

I suspect that's the real rationale for Romney's proposed Defense buildup, but of course, he'd never tell us. The reason for the Hunger Games, and the disappearance of the 13th district (the Northeast?) was the suppression of "treason"--by the heroic security forces.

Given Romney's energetic sale of himself, and Obama's lackluster rebuttals in the first debate, this kind of future looks all the more possible. His election, too, would include an attempt to extend our shrinking empire. The Roman Empire bankrupted itself in similar attempts; it's likely we would, as well.