With the state the world is in right now, it's safe to say that to some extent, even to all of you skeptics out there, it feels like we're all just stuck in some messed up world comparable to the Hunger Games. It seems like left and right, humans are offered up as tributes to the sick games that governments and armies play with each other. From across Europe, to Syria it's interesting to think about how survival in itself is essentially a game to some innocent people now and today may be the greatest day of their lives tomorrow may be the end of their life. It's safe to say that many of you reading this (all 5 to 10, or hey maybe if I'm lucky more) are privileged enough to have the safety of a big house, a nurturing family, and a college education that'll probably end in a decent job.
So many of us aren't familiar with these Hunger Games that so much of the world is playing and we have been living by a lot of mottos these days, in particular one of the strongest ones being "Make America Great Again!"
I want to ask, in comparison to what? Picture yourself in your college math class, or english class or whatever, and you want to get the best grade in the class because you know to yourself, whenever you stare at that mirror in the morning when you're brushing your teeth, that you're looking at a winner, someone who's obviously going to be better than all the other losers in your class. Greatness is usually determined based on a comparison, and as harsh as it is to say sometimes, you can establish your greatness when you see someone who's not so great and take a sigh of relief to yourself saying "Thank god my life isn't that bad."
C'mon we've all done it at some point and it isn't really a crime. So where is the logic behind this make America great logic when the rest of the world essentially is just "districts" of tributes in this global Hunger Games? At this point, if you speak logically, America doesn't even have to be that great to still be way better off than most of the world, if not all of it considering we're all very safe and prosperous for the most part.
So how can this be fixed, how can the bar of greatness be reached, so that America can truly have a reason to be great again, for the right reasons not for the reasons of bigots to flaunt their red white and blue at conventions in order to cover up a woman simply trying to protest the whole idea of racism and hatred.
I suggest an Un-Hunger Games, a "Full Stomach" Games of sorts. Yes I know it's idealistic, and yes I know it's impossible, but it's nice to dream once in a while about things that could just make the world a better place. Greatness isn't achieved through selfishness, the whole concept of greatness is amplified by making those better around you. Sure in your math class when you were scoring perfect on every test, you felt great about yourself, but how good did you feel when you tutored that friend in that same class and pulled their grade up from a 70 to a 90? The whole definition of greatness is skewed these days and it's what creates these selfish countries to lead their people (their tributes) into hell. So maybe, just maybe, if we re-evaluate our definition of greatness, we can actually "Make America Great," just not "again."
