Could the Hunger Games Really Happen?

     Like most teenage girls and their mothers, I too read the Hunger Games trilogy. When I started writing my own young adult title, Lincoln Nabb and the Bully's Father, too many of my friends told me I needed to read Hunger Games in order to compete with what's out there in the genre. My other books are darker and much less (meaning: not at all) young adult fiction, so they probably thought I needed all the help I can get toning it down. I think I'm pretty smart when it comes to this sort of thing, so I took the advice and really enjoyed it until about 2/3 of the way through MockingJay (but that's a blog post for another time). I'm still not 100% certain I didn't take the advice to prove to myself I didn't need the advice. But any advice is good if it can help you on your journey (also a blog for another time).
     One of the things I liked about it is how dark the story is, which may very well be why some of those friends suggested it. I liked the sense of hopelessness the story has while dangling that carrot of possibility in front of you. I mean, let's face it, teenagers fighting to the dead? That's like something I'd write. Like something I did write. I wrote about kinder-fights back in the 90s in Neo-Fascist Romeo (free to read on WattPad), and I took my shot at a dystopian future in the 2000's with Rise of an American Emperor (also free to read on WattPad)
     But what Hunger Games really got me thinking about was how we, as a country, could find ourselves in a similar dystopian future if things don't change in our country soon. With the current political climate and all the strange weather and natural disasters that are occurring lately, what would have to happen to get us to that point?

Here are a few things that could get us there:

The massive solar flare that's expected in 2012/2013 - Michio Kaku, my favorite physicists, believes it's very likely that within 2012 or 2013, based on two solar cycles of a big solar flare and a really big solar flare, that just happen coincide sometime within that time, a massive solar flare could his our planet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPdqr2v1rTQ). According to Mr. Kaku, the last time the really big solar flare cycle occurred in the 1800's it knocked out telegraph capabilities all over the country. A solar flare of the size, called a coronal mass ejection, that even NASA is predicting has a 20% change of occurring within the next 10 years, could potentially knock out the power grids all over the world...permanently. If electricity ceased that suddenly, as it could if a coronal mass ejection of that size hit the Earth just right, planes would fall out of the sky, people on life support would not be able to survive, medicine could not be produced, automotive transportation would not be possible and food would become very difficult to acquire. All of this has the grand makings of a dystopian future that could make Suzanne Collins proud. If this should ever happen, we could potentially find ourselves back in the dark ages. But something to think about as you're falling asleep tonight: NASA's been trying to convince the government to invest a measly $100 Million in reinforcing our national power grid to protect against this and the government has thus far said, "Nah."

Economic collapse - It's pretty obvious that if the economy keeps spiraling downward the way it has been for the past several year, things could certainly get out of control. The government keeps printing money that has nothing to back it up, devaluing the America dollar with every stamp of the printing presses. Compound this reality with one of my least favorite things about society, the mass media, and it could become very difficult to buy the things we need to survive. Money only has value because people assign value to it and believe that it's worth something. The dollar is only worth the amount society says it is. If things get bad enough and the news starts telling people their money isn't worth anything, most people will believe it and stop accepting it. We'll be back to a barter system where the most important things, like food, will worth more than trivialities, like books and toys. How will we purchase fuel for our cars? How much will a meal for your family cost? What will you have to give up to feed yourself? Will trucks still transport food to stores in your neighborhood?

Global pandemic - In 1918, the Spanish flu killed 25 million people in 25 weeks and 50 million people by 1920. It spread that fast without all of the luxuries we enjoy today, like immediate global accessibility and traveling to other countries within a few short hours. A deadly disease that ravages society would spread even faster today. While technology has advanced enough that we are able to synthesize vaccines much faster than we could in 1920, it would still take time to develop a vaccine for a new virus and even more time to get to everyone who needs it. If this lapse in timing were only 6 months, that would still allow a killer virus to ravage a large portion of society. Under these circumstances, society as we know it could drastically change.

Civil uprising over loss of freedoms - A lot of people believe this is already happening; that we're losing too many of the freedoms that Americans have enjoyed for over 200 years. A large part of our nation would be willing to fight to keep those freedoms. After all, it's what our nation is founded on. If that were to happen, the government would certainly have no choice but to declare martial law to try to keep control. Once we have martial law...well, we can paint that picture many different ways. I heard a historian say, not long ago, that not since the Civil War have people been so divided and tempers been so ignited over political issues. Are we already closing in on this possibility? And would an uprising between such divergent philosophies result in the division of a nation?

The eruption of the super volcano in Yellowstone National Park - Scientists say that the super volcano that we know as Old Faithful is on a 600,000 year cycle. To make matters worse, the last time it erupted was 640,000 years ago. According to math I can easily do in my head, that means that the eruption of the super volcano in Yellowstone National park is about 40,000 years past due. According to those same scientists, if the Yellowstone super volcano does erupt, it could immediately destroy over half of the United States and send massive clouds of ash as far as New York City. The same distance in the other direction doesn't really matter, since all of that area would be destroyed in the initial blast. It could also create a cloud layer of ash in the atmosphere so dense that it could cause a nuclear winter, the climatic effects of which could change the course of life on Earth.

Nuclear attack or an EMP - Another potential dark ages scenario, an EMP could destroy all electronics and possibility of generating electricity for generations to come, but the nuclear fallout could do much worse. As a matter of fact, most nuclear weapons are specifically designed to send out an EMP - all the way to the horizon - that is so powerful there is no way to protect against it. Even with a coronal mass ejection from the sun, a sturdy enough faraday cage could possibly protect some electronics and power generating equipment. The EM pulse from a nuclear bomb would go through a faraday cage like wind through a butterfly net. If the blast or the fallout doesn't get you...

Meteor or asteroid hitting the Earth - Without questions, the least likely of the possibilities, so this will probably be the one that does it. Hundreds of new asteroids are found each year. NASA and the UK media even accuse as many of 47,000 large asteroids of being on possible collision courses with Earth. In 2013, one known asteroid is expected to pass closer to Earth than our moon. And because of budgets and technology and a dozen other reasons that all sound like excuses to me, the vast majority of our sky hasn't even been studied, yet.

     Despite the air of conspiracy theory, I can easily see that if things don't settle down and people don't start getting the satisfaction that they need from the government that's supposed to serve them, we might be headed for some kind of difficulty. It may not be so extreme that we'll be living in the Hunger Games, but it's not unrealistic to think that there may be some trials ahead.
     While I'm not the join hands and sing Kum Ba Yah kind of guy, I do think we need to pay attention to what we're doing and where we're headed. I believe it was Thomas Jefferson who said, "When people fear their government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty." I often find myself wondering what the balance of that scale is these days.

To check out my 4.8 star Young Adult fiction novel, Lincoln Nabb and the Bully's Father, visit the Amazon's Kindle store.

The Winner of the Amazon Gift Card Contest...

Congratulations to Ron Ellis. The winner of the Amazon Gift Card Contest. Ron posted a very nice review on the Amazon page for Lincoln Nabb and the Bully's Father.

I was recommended to get this book by a friend. This book really kept my interest all the way through it is a quick read and leaves you ready for the next book to come out. I am a huge fan of books with mystery and action, and this book has it. Can't beat it for the price, it is a great book to have. I can't wait to find out what happens next to Lincoln.

Thanks, Ron. You'll be receiving your Amazon $50 Gift card within the next week. And thanks to everyone who entered our contest and to everyone who posted a review.

On a totally unrelated note, a great Christmas gift idea for the people you love is the Kindle book Lincoln Nabb and the Bully's Father, available on Amazon.com.