Jonathan’s Comments (group member since Dec 17, 2013)

Jonathan’s comments from the On Tyrants & Tributes : Real World Lessons From The Hunger Games group.

More like your average celebrity, because they don't have the opportunity to change the injustice by changing the law, they can only do what Katniss and Peeta did by blatantly showing rebellion on live tv.
Snow holds most of the power in Panem. The people really don't seem to have representatives at all.

Exactly, we have been conditioned to bear abuse rather than react to it. I would say that most people today have a much higher threshold for tyranny than our founders did, or we would long since have had another successful revolution.

I think that one of the main reasons that propaganda was so successful in Panem was that the districts were so separated. Since there was no way to communicate between districts, people were isolated and propaganda would therefore be much more effective.

Yeah, I think that rebellion would be the best option. However, I would have tried a more subtle route, such as creating an underground communications network between the districts. I have a feeling that if the districts were in communication that things would have been quite different. The people wouldn't have had the same sense of isolation.

True, but Sauron also focused on personal corruption of those who came in contact with the ring. Snow tried to use Katniss and Peeta in his favor but never tried corruption.

SPOILER ALERT: The scene with Katniss' shooting her arrow at the pig. It got their attention to say the least...

We actually started talking in the live stream's chat about the consumerist attitude of people today and the idea that through keeping people busy with temporary pleasures you can keep them from rebellion just because they don't want to lose their comfortable lifestyle. Do you think that plays into it at all?

Why the separation of the Districts in Panem? Do you think that the separation of the districts played a large role in keeping the citizens from rebelling? If so, do you think it was successful to a large part? It seems to me that the sense of isolation simply added to the perceived hopelessness of rebellion, especially since the citizens had no way of telling how large the police force actually was or what the moods of the other districts were.
Also, seeing that social isolation has grown so much in the past couple decades, (see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/...) do you think that social isolation contributes to the lack of that attitude of rebellion against injustice in the United States today?

I think that there is definitely that sense of an individualistic Appalachian theme. I live near the Appalachian area and there is definitely a tradition of individualism that has been alive and well in the region for some time. It definitely gives off that Appalachian vibe in the films.

I tend to hold libertarian/classical liberal views as I believe that any government's purpose is to protect the citizens' rights above all else. I tend to lead toward a Constitutional republican form of government to protect those rights. So that's the viewpoint I saw the Hunger Games from.
SPOILER ALERT: What really made me think was that in the overbearing tyranny of Panem, the people didn't try uprising again after the years of their children being slaughtered on national TV, until two kids decided to rebel on TV. It just shows how much people will bear before taking action.

I honestly don't know, it would depend on a lot of factors. I suppose that if they tried to completely restrict free speech or confiscate firearms or something like that, I would actually fight. The current infringements on our liberties are pretty bad, but I think that I would bear them as long as I could, unless there were a general uprising or they succeeded in threatening my free speech or guns.

I am studying Political Science in college and after I graduate I hope to start some business ventures with my brother and hopefully get involved in state and local politics in some way.

That is actually a really good point, I hadn't thought of Mr. Everdeen's role in the story. It would have been an interesting twist to highlight his effect on her life even more in the story, through flashbacks or something like that.