#assignment 17

[thejoyofwriting-hll]

Anxieties-Worries-Fears Written In A Distinct Style

Anxieties-Worries-Fears Written In A Distinct Style

Failure.

My worst fear.

Not from trying something new

And failing,

Failure to add

Anything

Significant

To this world

To this life

To this place

Failure to make a contribution.

View On WordPress

[waitingforthechirp]

America of The Hunger Games

The America of the Hunger Games, to me, represents a grossly exaggerated version of the America we live in today. I think nothing we do is as bad as Panem, but you can certainly see the roots of Collins’ dystopia in our society today.

            The Games themselves are reminiscent of American media and entertainment, especially reality television. Take first the increasing violence in fictional television and then the current obsession with shows about “real people” (in albeit increasingly unreal situations) and we have all the recipe we need to inspire a real life Hunger Games. I do not find it hard to picture the Americans of today eagerly watching such a show. (And, with the concession that in Collins’ version no one is actually being killed, we already have.)

Further, the disparity of wealth in the Hunger Games seems reminiscent of conditions in present-day America, where a small portion of the population (the Capitol) exerts all the power and is afforded all of the advantage of living in a presumably prosperous nation, and yet doesn’t contribute to the overall productivity of the nation. Bored, they engage in ridiculous fads and expensive frivolities. Obviously this is an exaggeration, but I think we can easily see how it stems from our real-life experiences. I thought it especially relates to the piece we read by Ehrenreich, where she says we, the upper and middle classes, are dependent on the working poor, without even realizing it. Katniss marvels at the ability in the capitol to push a button and have food appear, without any apparent thought for where it came from or how it was acquired. I think this would be a cmmon occurrence for upper class Americans today.

I think the biggest difference between America and Panem is the government. While our media and wealth structure are verging on dystopic. our government retains a structure that supports equality, even if it doesn’t always measure up. It’s not clear how President Snow is chosen or appointed, but it doesn’t seem likely that one person, one vote applies, at least not for those in the districts. In fact, the districts appear to have no voice at all, however small or symbolic it might be. While it is conceivable that large portions of the country could lose their right to representation in a failed rebellion under the current system, I think this represents an important distinction between America and Panem.

[shh-bequiet-imbreakingyourbones]

Assignment #17

[phoebesb-blog]

Assignment #17

My initial thoughts are stress and fear. I don't have any credit cards, but I have a debit card. With a debit card I can only spend what money I have in my bank, which although maybe it feels easy to spend, I can't get in debt. I want credit cards, so that I can make big purchases and learn about credit and one day be able to buy a house, etc, but after reading these alarming statistics I feel sort of scared out of it and reluctant.  

Three facts that stood out to me:

"Nearly all of the 725 students who took the survey in fall 2009 were business majors." 

This fact stood out to me because you'd think that students studying business would know how to be aware and manage their money.

"75% of them do not know their late payment charges and 70% of them do not know what their over-balance-limit fees might be." 

This stood out to me because these seem like important things to be aware of if you are making the decision to have a credit card yet so many people are oblivious to them.

"In 2004, the average college student had $946 in credit card debt. By 2009, the average stood at more than $4,100." 

This stood out to me first of all just because of the dramatic increase of debt, but also because of how terrible it is that students who are working hard yet are so young in college already have that much debt. 

Some of the wider implications of the findings are that people don't understand the real world and financial responsibility. Also that college students should be educated on things as relevant and important as credit cards.

One of the key findings that i found interesting was the fact about only 9.4%  of credit-card-carrying college students paid off their debt in full each month. In 2003 this survey was taken and 32% paid off their debt each month. This drop is thought to be caused by the financial struggle students already have. This seems crazy because although 32% seems low for something that is important to do, 9.4% is insanely low. I can't believe how small the percent is when in reality most people should be able to.