Hunger Games Research Paper

 In the Hunger Games, there's poverty, of course.  A good percent of people in district 12 are poor, including Katniss. The people in 12 die every day from hunger or disease, because the Capitol doesn't pay them enough to go to a doctor, or get food and the other necssities. Their government doesn't care, much less want to do anything about it. The only thing that the Capitol does is make sure that they get what they need and then leave the districts alone to fend for themselves.

In the U.S.  we feel like that we don't have a government that takes care of us, but we do.  4.6 million people are in poverty (Census Bureau Home Page).  Most of us think that our government does nothing to help us, but that's not true. They do help us, they give us stability and other things. They take care of the big, important things, so that we don't have to. When we're in trouble, the government takes the beef for it, we don't. They make sure that we avoid wars with people.

There are some similarities to the Hunger Games and U.S. poverty. The Capitol does nothing but support themselves and ignore the districts, which means that they get almost nothing. We think that our government just takes money to pay themselves, and ignore the middle man, leaving us even poorer than we already are. In the Hunger Games, the citizens of Panem work until they're dying. In the U.S. you have to work because if you don't, you'll go broke and live on the streets.  People in the districts trash talk the Capitol, and strip you of everything you own and punish you severely. We trash talk our government all the time, but there's no punishment for us for it.

There are differences too. First, the districts go to war with the Capitol, and lose. In America sure, we protest things, but don't just go to the White House and shoot it up. We try to trust our government, the districts don't.  The Capitol doesn't care how the people in the districts live, even if they have bugs and vermin, as long as they keep on providing for them. In the U.S. if your home isn't clean enough, they kick you out, and condemn the house.  When the war went on they obliterated district 13. When we go to war ,we don't drop bombs on countries (excluding WWII).

Poverty is defined as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. ("Poverty in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia) When people think of it, they think of people in Africa, or Somalia. Poverty is everywhere books, real life you can't escape it. There are 37 million Americans living below the poverty line. It doesn't matter where you come from or how you were raised, it effects everyone. People on the districts are always poor. The Capitol will always be rich. It makes you wonder, doesn't it? Could my life be that bad?

Works Cited

"About Poverty - Highlights - U.S Census Bureau." Census Bureau Home Page. 13 Sept. 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/index.html.

"Poverty in the United States." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. 4 Dec. 2011. Web. 06 Dec. 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_the_United_States.

Harris, Paul. "37 Million Poor Hidden in the Land of Plenty | World News | The Observer." Latest News, Sport and Comment from the Guardian | The Guardian. 8 Feb. 2006. Web. 09 Dec. 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/19/usa.paulharris.