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Malthus’ Theory of Population & District 12
Malthus’ Theory of Population & District 12
The Hunger Games (2008), written by Suzanne Collins portrays a world known as Panem. The world is split into thirteen separate districts each responsible for producing goods necessary to serve the ever-growing needs of the growing population. The book focuses on District 12 specifically, however all of the districts exist under full control of the dictatorship known as, “The Capitol”. The Capitol exercises their dominance over the districts on a daily basis sometimes by means of violence. One of the ways The Capitol proved their complete dominance and control over the Districts was by enforcing mandatory participation in something known as The Hunger Games. This was an event that took place once a year, subjecting one boy and one girl from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 to partake in a fight to the death. For generations there has been a constant struggle identifying how much is too much government intervention. Ancient economists argued over how power should be dispersed. They also discussed conflicting ideas about whether the world could sustain itself if the population continued to grow. Consider if renown economist, Thomas Robert Malthus was placed in District 12. Would he agree with the tactics used to check the population growth of District 12, or would he be more concerned with the amount of government control exercised in doing so? Malthus may have agreed with the idea in and of itself in controlling population growth, however, he would have been against the amount of government intervention necessary to enforce these balance systems, for the checks and balances Malthus proposed were products of nature. The “Hunger Games” were played in order to remind the people of Panem of a rebellion that had broken out years before in District 13 as well as a token of appreciation for the loss of lives was commemorated by the loss of the 23 children
Malthus’ Theory of Population & District 12
The Hunger Games (2008), written by Suzanne Collins portrays a world known as Panem. The world is split into thirteen separate districts each responsible for producing goods necessary to serve the ever-growing needs of the growing population. The book focuses on District 12 specifically, however all of the districts exist under full control of the dictatorship known as, “The Capitol”. The Capitol exercises their dominance over the districts on a daily basis sometimes by means of violence. One of the ways The Capitol proved their complete dominance and control over the Districts was by enforcing mandatory participation in something known as The Hunger Games. This was an event that took place once a year, subjecting one boy and one girl from each district between the ages of 12 and 18 to partake in a fight to the death. For generations there has been a constant struggle identifying how much is too much government intervention. Ancient economists argued over how power should be dispersed. They also discussed conflicting ideas about whether the world could sustain itself if the population continued to grow. Consider if renown economist, Thomas Robert Malthus was placed in District 12. Would he agree with the tactics used to check the population growth of District 12, or would he be more concerned with the amount of government control exercised in doing so? Malthus may have agreed with the idea in and of itself in controlling population growth, however, he would have been against the amount of government intervention necessary to enforce these balance systems, for the checks and balances Malthus proposed were products of nature. The “Hunger Games” were played in order to remind the people of Panem of a rebellion that had broken out years before in District 13 as well as a token of appreciation for the loss of lives was commemorated by the loss of the 23 children
References: Collins, S. (2008). The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press. Heilbroner, R. L. (1999). The Worldly Philosophers, the Lives, Times, and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. (7th ed. ed.). Touchstone. Malthus, Thomas Robert. An Essay on the Principle of Population. 1798. Library of Economics and Liberty. Retrieved February 9, 2012 from the World Wide Web: http://www.econlib.org/library/Malthus/malPop.html Pingle, Mark. "Introducing Dynamic Analysis Using Malthus 's Principle of Population." The Journal of Economic Education 34.1 (2003): 3-20. JSTOR. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30042519 Rutherford, Donald. "Malthus and Three Approaches to Solving the Population Problem." Population 62.2 (2007): 213-37. JSTOR. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. Stable URL: http://0-www.jstor.org.library.uor.edu/stable/27645305