If you’ve been ignoring “The Hunger Games” because you think it is nothing more than trite tween escapism, you’re making a mistake. It is an action-packed ode to freedom that any small-government conservative will love.
The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic North America, called Panem, far enough into the future that the United States has long been forgotten. A powerful central government, referred to as the Capitol, rules over 12 other “districts” from somewhere in the Rocky Mountains.
Each district specializes in just one economic sector, and the central government’s “Peacekeepers” closely guard and control all of the major enterprises. Katniss Everdeen, the heroine of the novels, hails from District 12, where her father died in the coal mines a few years before the first novel begins. (Other districts specialize in agriculture, lumber, textiles, etc.)
After her father’s death, Katniss begins taking tesserae from the Capitol to keep her family alive. Tesserae are tokens, each of which can be redeemed for enough oil and grain to barely keep one person alive for a year.
All children between the ages of 12 and 18 can take as many tesserae as are needed to feed their family. But for every token a child takes, they also receive an additional entry into the drawing that determines who will be chosen to appear in the Capitol’s annual televised fight to the death, “The Hunger Games.” It is a title designed to remind the citizens of Panem just how utterly dependent they are on the central government for their daily sustenance.
Katniss’s goal in life is to free herself, and her family, from dependence on the Capitol. And the existence of an underground free market is absolutely essential for her ability to do so.
At least once a week, usually more often, Katniss sneaks under the border fence encircling District 12 and hunts game in the nearby forest (her father taught her how to use a bow before he died). She then takes her kills, as well as whatever other nuts and berries she thinks may draw a good price, to the Hob, which is an old abandoned coal warehouse where District 12 residents buy and sell banned and illegally obtained goods.
In addition to her hunting skills, Katniss turns out to be quite the entrepreneurial bargainer. She even manages to buy a goat for her sister, Prim, who can now support herself, and her mother, by selling goat cheese and milk. As a result, Prim never has to take tesserae from the Capitol.
But even without tesserae, all children have their names entered into the Hunger Games lottery, called the Reaping, once at age 12, twice at age 13, and on up until they have a minimum seven entries by the time they are 18. Unfortunately for Katniss, Prim’s name is picked at her very first Reaping. Katniss immediately volunteers to take her place.
If you’ve seen any of the previews, you already know that Katniss puts her market-incentivized hunting skills to good use in the arena. And the free market’s effect on Katniss’s skill set is not lost on the Capitol either. Later in the series, when the Capitol wants to solidify its control over District 12, the first thing they do is burn the Hob to the ground.
Did Hunger Games author Suzanne Collins intend the novel as a manifesto for limited government and free markets? Probably not. She told the New York Times back in 2011 that the series was intended to “educate young people about the realities of war,” which is also a worthy goal. But along the way, Collins created a tale of overcoming government dependence that any Tea Party sympathizer should cheer.
Conn Carroll is a senior editorial writer for The Washington Examiner. He can be reached at [email protected].
