The Hunger Games Panem Depicts the Future

The Hunger Games – a glimpse of our own future if the cancerous growth of government is not checked

April 2, 2012

Natural News - The Hunger Games is a wildly popular new movie set in a dystopian future where an all-powerful, high-tech centralized government rules over “districts” of impoverished populations barely surviving in third-world conditions. The film, based on the book of the same name by Suzanne Collins, is important to understand because it depicts the very future that the global elite are trying to create. In fact, much of what is shown inThe Hunger Games has already begun.

The film is set 74 years after a popular uprising that failed to overthrow a corrupt, centralized federal government. As punishment for the attempted uprising, the all-powerful government now requires each of 12 districts to “volunteer” a young girl and boy each year to participate in the Hunger Games — a bloodsport “breads and circuses” event that serves as the opiate of the masses to distract society from the fact that they are all slaves living under tyranny.

The central themes of domination and control

The movie reflects numerous central themes of government control over the masses, including:

• Control over food: Residents of the 12 districts are not allowed to eat more food than they are allotted by the government. Being caught catching a squirrel for food results in severe punishment.

• Control over land: The 12 districts are fenced off with high-voltage power lines, much like you might find in North Korea today. Most of the world is “conserved” as wild forest and grasslands, with humans only being allowed to populate confined regions where resources are sparse and starvation is a daily reality.

• Control over the media: The government controls all media, and every broadcast is a staged theatrical event, completely fabricated by the government to serve the interests of the government itself. This, of course, is a reflection of present-day mainstream media which is completely whored out to corporate and political interests.

• Control of technology: While the masses live in squalor, the techno-elite enjoy advanced hovercraft ships and live in gleaming high-tech cities. Advancements in medicine, 3D displays and weapons systems are available only to the centralized government, never to the People. Also in the film, RFID chips are used to track the game participants.

• Control of DNA: Residents of the districts are identified through the taking of DNA blood samples. The government stores their DNA in a database in order to track and identify individuals. Insects are genetically engineered to serve as weapons, such as GMO wasps that cause wild hallucinations to those who are stung.

• Control over life itself: The government toys with human life and seems to be amused by expressing heartless power over the masses. Their priorities are simultaneously focused on fashion, status and meaningless cuisine. In one scene, when the teenage girl (Katniss Everdeen) is trying to ask her mentor how she might survive the games, her elitists coordinator can only spout about how much she loves “chocolate truffles” and why they should all enjoy a round of desserts.

A parade of fashion, makeup and style gone wild

The style and fashion of the elite class who live in the high-tech cities seems to be echoed right out of a modern-day parade. People are adorned with bright, extravagant clothing and accessories, and they’re painted up in outlandish makeup and hair color. They literally prance around like frolicking maniacal members of royalty, and they experience great joy from causing others to suffer.

The government-worshipping elite class see themselves as intellectually superior to everyone else, yet they lack any real-world skills. They also lack anything resembling ethics, and they see nothing wrong with cheating or lying their way to positions of ever greater power in their warped society.

Enslavement through the illusion of hope

At the top of the government, the leader played by Donald Sutherland is a Rockefeller-type master of deception and human emotions. As he explains in the film, the purpose of the Hunger Games is to keep people enslaved while giving them “a little hope, but not too much.” A little hope keeps the enslaved masses in line, but too much hope might actually make them think they have real power.

The threat of government violence against the enslaved masses is carried out by a class of enforcers who, in contrast to most other dystopian films, are actually clothed in white, not black. They are the TSA of the Hunger Games, and their job is to oppress the people, bash in a few heads, and remind the masses who’s really in charge.

One can’t help but notice in this film that the elite class of prancing government worshipers is the logical extension of today’s irrational worship of government as the savior of society. Where government is put in charge of everything, the People are forever enslaved. And that seems to be the goal of the government-worshippers in society today who desire to make all people dependent on the government, hand over all power to the government, and destroy individual human liberties (and the Bill of Rights). It is no coincidence that the enslaved masses inThe Hunger Gamesare entirely disarmed and only the government is allowed to own high-tech weaponry. This is a key provision of the leftist “anti-gun” movement witnessed in society today, which says that all guns should only be in the hands of government, not individuals. Such a centralization of weaponry in the hands of corrupt government, of course, only leads to tyranny, as history repeatedly shows.

Human dignity

Most interesting to me is the idea that government elitists have no ethics, no morals and no basic dignity. In contrast, the only real expression of dignity comes from the District 12 volunteer, Katniss Everdeen (the female lead). She enjoys a closeness with nature and a respect for life. When other participants in the Hunger Games are killed around her, she shows them respect with a makeshift burial ceremony. She only takes life as a last resort, yet she’s also quick to act out of self defense, and she’s willing to take action to kill others if they are truly intent on killing her.

This reflects a fundamental human right to self defense. When we are attacked, we have the right to hold our ground and return fire as her character demonstrates several times throughout the film. By doing so, she saves her life and ultimately shows the elitist government that it cannot control her.

That point comes out strongly at the end of the games, when she and her male partner are the last two survivors. The elitists government commands them to try to kill each other so that only one victor emerges. But instead of giving in to this command, the two decide to eat poison berries together and thus demonstrate to the global audience watching the event (which is practically the entire population) that the government shall not have the freedom to decide when we live or die, and that even a slave can still decide when to end their own life, independent from an oppressive government regime.

Unexpectedly, the government suddenly halts the games before the two can eat the berries, announcing them both as winners. This is obviously a last-ditch effort to make sure no one expresses any power over their own lives — not even the power to end your own life because such expression of individual power would embarrass the government.

Throughout the film (and the book), the government is obsessed with total oppression of the people, denying them food and resources and carrying out mind games against them that sap their courage and convince them they have no personal power.

Actors, writing, photography and screenplay

On the technical side of things, the acting in this film is superb. The key female character in the film is played by Jennifer Lawrence (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2225369/) who delivers a convincing, heartwarming performance. She demonstrates both strength and vulnerability with astounding authenticity. This film succeeds largely because of her performance.

Woody Harrelson also delivers a convincing performance, but that’s not surprising given his reputation and experience as a performance professional.

Screenplay is surprisingly solid, considering that this film is based on a novel. It’s rare to see a novel translated well onto the screen, butThe Hunger Gamespulls it off nicely with compelling pacing and well-planned editing of the book’s detail.

I also want to give props to two departments that typically don’t get the attention they deserve: Costume design and sound design. InThe Hunger Games, both of these departments went far beyond the norm, showcasing a masterful assembly of visual and auditory highlights that add great depth to the on-screen artistry.

The Hunger Games is coming true in America today

When watching the Hunger Games, you can’t help but think about the recent armed raids on Rawesome Foods in California. There, armed government thugs confiscated and destroyed $50,000 worth of food and poured gallons of raw milk down the drain even while a food bank that could have used all that food was right next door. 

(http://www.naturalnews.com/033220_Rawesome_Foods_armed_raids.html)

This destruction of food carried out by the government of California is also routinely carried out by the oppressive government inThe Hunger Games. One of the most powerful strategies for total government domination is to deny people access to real food. That’s exactly what we’re seeing today in the government’s attacks on raw milk, raw almonds and other nutritious foods. In Michigan, for example, state bureaucrats there have announced their plan to start destroying all the pig livestock of small, local ranchers and arrest them as felons 

(http://www.naturalnews.com/035372_Michigan_pigs_farm_freedom.html).

We also see in society today a growing class of the ruling elite who express total disdain for humanity, the natural world or anything resembling dignity or ethics. This is perhaps best reflected in the philosophy of Goldman Sachs, a financial investment giant so steeped in the culture of greed that they reportedly think of their own customers as total idiots to be viciously exploited for dishonest profit.

We also see the key elements of tyranny and oppression reflected in the Obama administration, where Obama himself signed the NDAA on New Year’s Eve, 2011. This law nullifies the Bill of Rights and eliminates any right to due process for Americans. It allows the government to arrest, detain, interrogate and torture any person, for any reason, even if they are never charged with a crime. It really is like something ripped right out of a dystopian sci-fi film. The mass population, meanwhile, seems to have no idea this has already been signed into law. 

(http://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html)

Similarly, on March 16 of this year, President Obama signed into effect an executive order that seizes control over all food resources across the country, including food, seeds, livestock, farm equipment, food processing facilities, and animal feed. This is written in clear English, right in the order itself. 

(http://www.naturalnews.com/035301_Obama_executive_orders_food_supply….)

Once again, virtually the entire U.S. population seems to have no idea that this executive order was signed by Obama. In modern society, as inThe Hunger Gamesfilm, most people live in a world of delusion, oblivious to the reality of how government is creepily expanding into a totalitarian dictatorship with each passing day.

We are already living in the early stages of The Hunger Games

The real kicker in all this is that, to a great extent, we have already begun to live in the early stages of a “Hunger Games” society. Those who worship government and believe in total government power over the People are pushing us in that direction every single day.

Here are other signs of a Hunger Games type of government growing all around us:

• The TSA reaching down your pants and calling it “security” 

(http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=979D7B9F44BA6EAE0DF65B3DE6E4EE33)
• Staged false flag security events to keep people afraid (http://www.naturalnews.com/034325_FBI_entrapment_terror_plots.html)
• Janet Napolitano on giant TV screens at Wal-Mart warning everyone to spy on their neighbors and only trust government 

(http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=5A4B5D4B84344D5D9CBD262A53D8B071)
• Armed government raids on farms and food distribution centers
• Corporate control over seeds and all intellectual property
• The push to disarm the People and centralize all weapons in the hands of government
• Mad science genetic engineering of crops and animals
• The total theater of fabricated “humanitarian” causes (Kony 2012) which are really nothing more than a tactic to get public support for mass murder by governments
• The total worshipping of sports figures and sports events by the dumbed-down masses who watch football, basketball and the UFC while having no clue whatsoever that their government is raping their future and destroying their liberties.

Big Government will accelerate us into a Hunger Games dystopian future

Ask yourself: What political position does all this sound like? End the Second Amendment, put government in charge of all food, give up liberties in the name of security, surrender individual power to state power… ring a bell? 

It’s the platform of America’s political elite, whether you’re talking about the left or the right. 

Both political parties believe in big (and bigger) government, dis-empowered people, and total government control over all resources (including land).

Only people who believe in small, limited government can reverse this trend. Ron Paul supporters, in other words. A small government is a safe government, as any government that gets too big and too powerful becomes a clear and present danger to the People.

Each day that our government becomes larger and more powerful — which almost automatically happens following staged terror events such as 9/11 — we are hurled ever close to a Hunger Games type of future reality.

Let us hope that We the People can stop the insanity of bad government and find a way to restore liberty before this fictional movie called “The Hunger Games” becomes far too real for comfort.

Social Security Recipients to Get Tiny Increase in Benefits

October 18, 2016

WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions of Social Security recipients and federal retirees will get a 0.3 percent increase in monthly benefits next year, the fifth year in a row that older Americans will have to settle for historically low raises.

There was no increase this year. Next year's benefit hike will be small because inflation is low, driven in part by lower fuel prices.

The federal government announced the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, Tuesday morning. By law, the COLA is based on a government measure of consumer prices.

The COLA affects more than 70 million people — about 1 in 5 Americans.

The average monthly Social Security payment is $1,238. That translates into a monthly increase of less than $4 a month.

More bad news for seniors: Medicare Part B premiums, which are usually deducted from Social Security payments, are expected to increase next year to the point in which they will probably wipe out the entire COLA.

By law, the dollar increase in Medicare's Part B premium cannot exceed a beneficiary's cost-of-living raise. That's known as the "hold harmless" provision, and it protects the majority of Medicare recipients.
But another federal law says that the Part B premium must raise enough money to cover one-fourth of expected spending on doctors' services. That means that a minority of beneficiaries, including new enrollees and higher-income people, have to shoulder the full increase. Their premiums would jump.

Millicent Graves, a retired veterinary technician, says Medicare and supplemental insurance premiums eat up nearly a third of her $929 monthly Social Security payment. And don't tell the 72-year-old from Williamsburg, Virginia, that consumer prices aren't going up. She says her insurance premiums went up by $46.50 this year, and her cable TV, Internet and phone bill went up, too.

"I just lose and lose and lose and lose," Graves said.

More than 60 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security benefits. The COLA also affects benefits for about 4 million disabled veterans, 2.5 million federal retirees and their survivors, and more than 8 million people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor. Many people who get SSI also receive Social Security.

Since 2008, the COLA has been above 2 percent only once, in 2011. It's been zero three times.

"This loss of anticipated retirement income compounds every year, causing people to spend through retirement savings far more quickly than planned," said Mary Johnson of the Senior Citizens League. "Over the course of a 25- or 30-year retirement, it reduces anticipated Social Security income by tens of thousands of dollars."

By law, the cost-of-living adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, a broad measure of consumer prices generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures price changes for food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation and education.

The COLA is calculated using the average CPI-W for July, August and September. If prices go up, benefits go up. If prices drop or stay flat, benefits stay the same.

The numbers for July and August suggest COLA of just 0.3 percent. The numbers for September are to be released Tuesday.

Some advocates complain that the government's measure of inflation doesn't reflect the costs many older Americans face.

For example, gasoline prices have fallen by nearly 18 percent over the past year, according to the August inflation report, while the cost of medical care has gone up by more than 5 percent.

For seniors who don't drive much, they don't get the full benefit of low gas prices, said Max Gulker, a senior research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. Many seniors, however, spend more of their income on health care.

Graves said she appreciates lower gas prices, but doesn't drive much.

"I just have to rely more each month on cashing in investments," Graves said. "I'm lucky I can do that."

Obama Sets 2017 Pay Raise for Civilian, Military Employees

What agency has the most employees? Which feds get paid the most? Federal News Radio looks at the latest data from the Office of Personnel Management.

August 31, 2016

FEDERAL NEWS RADIO - President Barack Obama is exercising his authority to give federal civilian employees and uniformed service members a pay raise effective Jan. 1, 2017.

Civilian employees will receive an across-the-board raise of 1 percent, with an additional 0.6 percent adjusted in locality pay.

“I have determined that for 2017, across-the-board pay increases will be 1.0 percent,” Obama wrote in an Aug. 31 letter to congressional leaders. “Also, I will make a decision by November 30, 2016, regarding an alternative plan for locality payments under 5 U.S.C. 5304a. The alternative plan for locality payments will be limited so that the total combined cost of the 1.0 percent across-the-board base pay increase and the varying locality pay increases will be 1.6 percent of basic payroll, consistent with the assumption in my 2017 budget. These decisions will not materially affect our ability to attract and retain a well-qualified federal workforce.”

Uniformed service members will also receive a monthly basic pay increase of 1.6 percent.

“This decision is consistent with my fiscal year 2017 budget. It will not materially affect the federal government’s ability to attract and retain well-qualified members for the uniformed services,” Obama wrote in a separate letter to congressional leaders.

The raise is just slightly above the 1.3 percent Obama approved last fiscal year.

Greeks Banks Open Despite Enforced Bank Holiday to Allow Pensioners to Withdraw Half Their Pensions

In Kolonaki, a very expensive area close to the Parliament, you’ll find Greeks dressed in designer clothes, enjoying freshly squeezed orange juice and creamy cappuccinos in the chic cafes. At one place named Bibliothikis, Zinnias Mantrozos, the owner, explains to Mashable that the crisis has affected people in different ways. His own family didn't escape fallout from the crisis — his wife, a government employee, was fired after negotiations between Greece and the "troika" forced the government to fire public-sector workers — but this affluent neighborhood was less affected because people here "have more stable jobs," he says. "It depends on your position — whether you have a family or not, or if you work for the public or private sector." [Source]

Banks opened for Pensioners: Queues, fainting, outrage, chaos

July 1, 2015

keeptalkinggreece - In some bank branch, the first pensioner arrived already short after midnight. The second, half an hour later. The third around 2 in the morning. By 5 am the queues outside the banks in the big cities were already very long. Some pensioners had brought plastic stools and chairs, a pillow, a bottle of water. Despite the enforced bank holiday, 1,000 branches across the country were opened on Wednesday in order to facilitate pensioners without debit card to withdraw their pensions.

Video: everybody is there: pensioners, reporters and policemen to keep the order


When banks opened at 8 o clock the people started to push each other to grab the opportunity and get into the bank.

The Average U.S. Household Income Versus the Average Federal Employee's Salary

House and Senate members should only receive the median U.S. annual salary so that they are a more equal representation of The People Of The United States. Same for all government officials. Mayors should receive the city median income. State reps, as well as governors, the state median. There are others as well. I think this would really fix at least a couple of the problems our government has. - Josh J, March 11, 2015

How much do Americans earn? What is the average US income and other income figures

By mybudget360

Breaking down US household income (this is combined household, not individual income) by category presents a clearer picture:


Source:  US Census

20.8 percent of US households make $100,000 or more. Only 4.3 percent make more than $200,000 and roughly 2 percent make more than $250,000.  Given all the ads you see on network TV you would think that every other US household was pulling in $200,000 a year given the kind of products that are pushed.  Of course most of the goods bought in the last decade were financed with massive debt and not actual saved wealth.

Where did income grow?

US income growth has been absent for most households.  In fact, over the last four decades most of the real income growth has occurred for the top 10 percent of US households:



`The typical family barely saw any real income growth and that is why many feel a true pinch to their wallet.  Yet household incomes for earners in the top 10 percent saw real sizeable growth over the last four decades.

In comparison, the average individual income for federal employees as of September 2012 was nearly $78,500. In a household with two wage earners working for the federal government, the average household income would be $157,000, $106,500 more than the average U.S. household income. The Office of Personnel Management reported that as of September 2012, the average salary for a full-time, permanent, non-seasonal position was $78,467. The comparable figure for December 2010 was $76,701. The median salary — the point at which half are above and half are below — is now $74,714, up from $69,550 in 2010. Local and State government wages are comparable to federal wages in many areas through the United States. In others words, some government employees are retiring as millionaires after 20 years (law enforcement and firefighters) or 30 years of service.