The Hunger Games: What do we tolerate?

A little while ago I went to see the film The Hunger Games with my teenage daughter. Discussing the film afterwards, we wondered why the people in the film seemed so accepting of their situation. (For those who aren't familiar with it, every year each district has a draw to select 2 young people to enter an arena as "tributes". They are forced to enter a televised contest, in which only one will survive as victor.) "why don't they do something about it?" I wondered.

Apart from displaying my ignorance. (" Mum, read the books!" My daughter replied.) This also made me think about the many things we tolerate, that are as equally abhorrent as the Hunger Games.

As we remember the anniversary of World War 1, we can recall the many young men who were placed in situations where the odds of survival were no better than the Hunger games contestants. In war and conflict situations today children are used as "soldiers" or placed in danger. The clothes we wear often depend on children working in unsafe sweatshops. Refugees risk their lives every day to escape from situations they find intolerable, only to be met by hostility. Children die every day for a lack of safe drinking water, the cost of which could be provided for a fraction of what we spend on bombs.

Perhaps a film like this can make us think about the things we tolerate. We need to be less tolerant of things that do harm. Ask more questions. Demand more information. If  it is doing harm, join campaigns against it, don't buy it, and tell those who we elect to speak on our behalf not to support it!