The Hunger Games

Last night I stayed up late reading The Hunger Games and of course that’s what I dreamt about. I was sleeping up in a tree just like Katniss and almost rolled out of bed doing the upside down branch roll! Poor Thumper let out a big meow and leaped from the bed which startled me awake! It was pitch dark so I realized it must be midnight and went back to sleep only to end back in the dream. Don’t you just love a book that you can dive right in to and live the story? These days it doesn’t happen very often to me even when I enjoy the book immensely but this book is really grabbing my attention.

I love stories, shows, movies and articles about survival after the world has gone south (so to speak J ). It continues to fascinate me how other folks think people will react. Unfortunately they all think the same thing, that we humans will revert to the lowest form of animal. As I’ve written in the past I do think that humanity is disappointingly unevolved considering what individuals are capable of. After a lot of thinking about the cause I conclude that it is the few that are bringing down humanity.

The few being the greedy bastards at the top of the pile.

Did I say that out loud? Yes I did. The rest of us have the heart and the will to be good people but we are constantly manipulated by others with more money and more power who can control what we are supposed to be thinking. Few of us are raised up as individualists so we tend to believe what our peers believe. And that belief comes from generations of being taught status quo is good. This seems to be particularly true in Alberta. We can make fun of the hillbillies in Alabama but I am afraid there are people in Alabama more enlightened than some of the people I meet in Alberta.

Should I have titled this “How To Win Friends and Influence People”? Just think about our political process. Currently the Conservatives are voting for a new leader and it seems like one of the old guard may get in. Think about the fact that we’ve had a Conservative government here for over 40 years. Wouldn’t you think that it would be good to shake up the legislature and get new blood in just so we could audit the books? Seriously? Pretty much everyone in this province thinks that we are prosperous because the Conservatives were in power. Did you notice the fact that we started to get rich when Texas started running out of oil and suddenly Alberta’s oil reserves were the next best thing to gold? In fact, better. Agriculture runs a distant second in our economic equation.

My point is that people have come to believe this mantra as strongly as they believe the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt vote conservative or you will go to hell in a hand basket.

If the unthinkable happens and you survive the chaos left behind, how would you hope you would behave? Like a civilized human being or like an animal forced to kill other humans in the fight for food? The challenge is to think outside the box you were given and start looking for real answers in today’s world. Become an individualist not a follower.