Hunger Games - Catching Fire - Do People Get the Social Message?

I was talking with my son about the popularity of the Hunger Games trilogy and the topic came round to the underlying social message of the stories. That lead to the question, do people who take in the entertainment value of the story see the parallels in the real world?

Take the set up of the twelve districts, all being raped for the glory of the Capital. Well, this one is easy right?

I'm sure everyone can see the first world lifestyle wrapped up in the Capital with the third world suffering to keep up with the first world consumption. Third world starves and we continue to consume without a thought of where our food, clothes, and items come from.

What about cleaning up those select few and then parading them out to the Capital before they send them back to the squaller of their districts to live in the Victor's Village?

It's really blatant contrast of how the two different societies live in PanAm. We do it here too.

We take those whose stories touch our hearts, clean them up, parade them through the media and then send them right back to their slums in the third world. Don't think we do? Take the kids from SlumDog Millionaire. They got a taste of what celebrity in the first world feels like and then were sent back to their homes in the slums of India. Are they better off for it? Or now that they know how we live, feel cheated? How would you feel?

Then there is the 10 year old girl, Nujood Ali,  who faced down her society and got a divorce from her much older husband, who bought her from her family. We put her on talk shows, showed her a life she can never have, and then sent her back to the family who sold her in the first place.

We are doing it again with Malala Yousafzai, but at least she doesn't have to go back to a slum.

Then there is the killing each other to entertain the Capital.

Yes we do this too, with our reality TV shows, but also in our news reports on the wars. We watch the TV, see the terrible images, hear the heartbreaking stories and then we turn the TV off and forget. We can do nothing so why bother. They are 'other' - over there, someone else. They have nothing to do with us. Yet, it is our governments and our economy that effect their way of life and move the chess pieces into place. In the 80's the US backed the Taliban, put them in power, knowing full well how it would effect the citizens there. The US leaders are there because their citizens vote them it.


As a thanks for coming by and reading this post - 
I'm giving away a free download of the e-book  - Thirteen by Shannon Peel.

Jack is a rebellious thirteen year old boy, who just wants to hang out with his new high school friends, but his mom’s curfew is restricting his freedom.

When foreign soldiers invade his hometown, cutting off the power, communications, and any chance of escape, Jack and his friends have to figure out how to survive.

With no way to contact his father, they have no idea if he is safe or one of the people disappearing from their homes. Now all Jack wants is to get his dad back, unfortunately, armed soldiers are in the way.

Thirteen is a roller coaster of twists and turns. It is a story of a boy figuring out who he is and redefining his relationship with his mother. To protect his mom, he puts himself into dangerous situations and organizes a group of kids to brain storm ideas and gather information on the soldiers.

What is Happening to Society? Raised to be Heartless, Ignorant and Selfish

When our grand kids ask us how we could let atrocities like genocide and human trafficking of women happen what are we going to say?  It didn't effect us so we ignored it.  We had our own problems and crime to hide from so we ignored it.  We were too busy working and buying stuff so we ignored it.  We were optomistic happy people and that was negativity so we ignored it.  In today's society with as much information as we have about atrocities and crimes, we can not pretend we didn't know. Regardless of the reason the result is the same, we know and we don't care enough. 

Recently I read Shake hands with the Devil by Lt. General Romeo Dallaire and A Problem from Hell: America and Genocide by Samantha Powers.  Two very good books with a very disturbing messages, the UN is all bark with no bite, conflicting political agendas delay action and since no one knows what to do they do nothing.  Governments knew what was happening, leaders like President Clinton took no action while 800 000 people were slaughtered in 100 days and the Balkans became a flashback to the days of Hitler.  Governments only take action when the people of the country want action to be taken, no one wanted to stop the killing of Tutsis or Muslims in distant impoverished countries.  So what happens if genocide takes place in the Western countries?  Will anyone care to come to the rescue? 

Search human trafficking of women in Europe and you'll be surprised by the information that has been uncovered by journalists and NGOs.  We know women from Eastern Europe are kidnapped and forced into a life of prostitution but do we care?  Women go missing in the US and Canada to be forced into prostitution but do we care?  Whether human trafficking of women for the sex trade is happening half way around the world or just down the street we don't care.  We even blame the women for choices they made that landed them there in the first place, even though many were teens doing the same stupid things we did.  We were just lucky to not be abducted. 

What about kids?  Surely we care when a child is harmed.  Not really, genocide and displaced people around the world include children but we look the other way.  Then there is the 11 year old girl who was gang raped in Texas while being video taped, obviously we care about this child.  Not really, many are blaming her and saying she wanted it..... Exactly how can an 11 year old child consent to being gang raped?

Crime happens all around us but we marginalize it by making it someone else's problem and by doing so fool ourselves into believing we are safe.  Yes women are abducted and forced into a life of sex slavery, but that is over there it wouldn't happen here.  As long as we stay within our four walls and protect our children from harm we will all be OK.  We are better parents, our girls wouldn't find themselves in bad situations where they end up being forced into the sex trade.  There isn't anything we can do about it so why do anything at all.  I am sure that the victims of these crimes will understand why we didn't care about them, after all they don't care about us - right.  Whatever excuse or story we tell ourselves will keep us safe, right - Just ask Madeline McCann's parents, or Jaycee Lee Dugard. 

Since we do nothing and our laws are written to protect the criminal and prosecute the victim things will only get worse.  The Internet and global transportation have made crimes international and criminals harder to catch.  There needs to be an international police agency separate from any political government set up to enforce major international crimes and protect citizens from crimes against humanity.  The UN can't do it and NATO is tied too closely to its member governments political whims.  Although there is a need, there is no will to create international laws and even less will to enforce them.

When I asked my grandparents how their generation could allow the Holocaust, they responded that they didn't know what was happening on the other side of the world. Considering the lack of communications and the lack of access to the camps I believe them.  However, today is different with the Internet and CNN, we do know what is going on across the globe.  What will you say when your grandchild asks what you did to help stop ____________________?   I wonder what Bill Clinton, and the other leaders of the UN will say when God asks them what did they do to stop the genocide in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.  What will you say when He asks you?

You Can't buy an Animal on Craigslist but You can buy a Child or Woman.

Ontario and Manitoba have asked Craigslist CEO, Jim Buckmaster, to stop enabling sex traffickers to make money by not allowing sex trade ads to be run.  According to the Calgary Herald Craigslist has stopped the ads south of the border but not in Canada and does not plan to. 

In my search for a family pet I discovered that there are no ads allowed to sell an animal as a pet.  Craigslist has put the rights of animals ahead of profits to help stop puppy mills and puppy brokers from making quick cash.  Why don't women and children who find themselves forces into the sex trade not given the same consideration? 

Are women and children not as valuable to the world as animals are?  Does the CEO value animals stuck in puppy mills more that those who are forced into a life of servitude?  Most children and women do not choose a life in a brothel.  Until the CEO of Craigslist starts to value human life as not something to buy and sell then I am boycotting the site, I encourage others to as well.

If you agree and want to boycott Craigslist until they remove sex trade ads please leave a comment and pass this post along to friends.  Together we can make a difference.

Vancouver Sun Article
Vancouver Sun Article re Sex Trafficing in Canada
Sex Trafficking - Modern Day Slavery in Canada - lots of information on how women and children are forced into the sex trade and how immigrants are used as slave labour. 
Canada an International Embarassment -

Unicef - Children's Lives Improving But Still a Long Way to Go

Ann Veneman, Chief of UNICEF, spoke to mark the Universal Children's Day and the 20th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child at the UN headquarters in New York, about how far they have come to improve the lives of children in the world.

Although they have raised awareness, put a child's face on the AIDs/HIV epidemic and increased the amount of children being educated, there is still so much that needs to be done. In her report she stated:

"I have spoken to girls in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where sexual violence, pillaging, burning of homes and killing define their daily lives."

"I have met boys who were abducted from their families and forced to wage war in their own countries, sometimes even in their own communities," .

"The world must build on the progress achieved to ensure that stories such as theirs become part of the past,"

These stories always effect me but I don't know what I can do. Most people aren't heartless, they feel for those less fortunate then they are, they just don't know what to do. Giving money is easy and for most, who are just trying to get by, not always an option.

What can we do to make life better for those children around the world who's lives are living nightmares?

Cadbury Buying Bikes for Africa and Fair Trade Coca Beans

Last night I saw Cadbury's TV ad telling the world they will buy a bike for someone in Africa if we buy their chocolate and enter the USP code. I thought of two things when I saw it: 1. They buy coca beans in the market where 40% comes from farms with child slavery. 2. The USP code is a great marketing tool to start an interaction with consumers - but what about the chocolate bar consumers that don't enter the USP code online?

Cadbury has promised to manufacture a chocolate bar that is made with free trade products. This is a much more important initiative for Africa then a bike. By purchasing coca beans that are grown on farms with NO child labour at a fair price the African people can have a better quality of life.

Since we don't buy non fair trade chocolate bars anymore, I am looking forward to Cadbury's free trade chocolate bars.

Cadbury's free trade chocolate

Can we Do Anything for the Lost Children?

Whether we spend money to see movies like, Blood Diamond, Lord of War, and SlumDog Millionaire or we watch CNN or read articles in Time we know what is going on in the world. We know about the atrocities that children of civil war, refugee camps, and slums face every day and we do nothing.

I am reading a long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier by ishmael beah and feel fortunate that he has the courage to tell his story. I have been honoured by a former refugee of Somalia and another of Kosovo when they told me their heart wrenching stories.

Stories that were hard to tell, stories that cause nightmares and would rather be forgotten. I am very thankful to those that have taken the time to sit down with me and relate them to me. I feel very fortunate to have known these people and to know their courage and how they helped others to get through it. Although I rarely have crossed their paths again, I consider them people I will always consider heros.

They are heros, not because of what they indured, but because of what they choose to do during that time. How they helped others, lead others, or helped others understand.

I do what I can to help - send money to those in the front lines making a difference. Is it enough?

Global Action for Children .... More on the Subject....

Child Slavery - Girls are most Vulnerable

In most poverty stricken countries parents sell their children into slavery. Sometimes they are tricked with the promise that they are sending their children to work as domestic help. Sometimes though they know their daughters are going to brothels and the money is worth more to them.

The Child Slavery story by Time journalists Alex Perry and Jonathan Taylor tells about how parents profit from their daughters work in brothels.

I can't imagine for the life of me what it would be like to sell my daughter, let alone into a life of prostitution. Do these parents weep? Do they regret? Do they think about their daughters? Do they even care? I could not continue to live knowing my daughter was in pain let alone if I put her there.

For years I have sent money to either World Vision or Foster Parents Plan. When I was young my parents sent money to World Vision. Has it made a dent? Does any of the money help out? It sounds like things are only getting worse regardless of these types of organizations.

Is there a solution? Probably not an easy one because any solution would mean those with money would have to think of others and care about the faceless poor.

Chocolate and Child Slavery
Child Slavery in Modern Day America and other Industrialized Nations

Disabled Children Sold into Slavery

Chocolate and Child Slavery - Time to give up Chocolate

I love chocolate, who doesn't? Everything tastes better with chocolate right! The Ivory Coast in Africa uses child slavery to produce cocoa beans. By buying chocolate I feel like I'm supporting child slavery so no more chocolate.

Fair trade chocolate is OK to eat but if it doesn't say fair trade you don't know where it comes from.

Child Slavery in Modern Day America and Canada

Chocolate and Child Slavery


BBC News report on Child Slavery in Western Africa

ABC News Photo Journalism Story of a Life of a Child Slave

Modern Day Slavery in Industrialized Nations like America and Canada

I knew about the sex trade and how it was enslaving women, but I hadn't heard about child slavery in homes for domestic services. I was watching a Law and Order episode about child slavery and thought that it was so far fetched I googled it. I was surprised to find out how big of a problem it is in America and Canada. So my question is, what kind of people would bring a child into their home and force them to be a slave?

Links to news and articles:

ABC News Article
Newspaper Article
What is being done
Anti Slavery
Story of child domestic slavery
Child Maid

Why I will no longer eat chocolate