Russia and the Hunger Games

The similarities are so much more than you thought

Gen Z and Alpha tend to draw analogies between literally everything and movies, which may sound pointless at first, but bear with me - these young people are doing something genius. While most movies are the result of literature or other fictional form of art, one stands out as incredibly descriptive for the current Russian state.

Let’s begin with the separation between the capital and the regions. Russia, much like Hunger Games has the economically strong capital city of Moscow, where the dictator resides with his cronies. It’s a place with a higher living standard than the other regions, where the cream of society resides in an undisturbed comfort, enjoying the luxuries which they can afford. This lifestyle is kindly provided by the hard work of the districts, because like the Hunger Games capital, Moscow only produces oligarchs. No natural resources, no farming resources, almost no industry (at least not one to compete externally) - nothing but consumers. And all consumables are either imported or come from the other regions, much like the districts, feeding the capital in Hunger Games.

Of course, nothing comes without consequences and the regions of Russia have been left behind, economically speaking. As a result of Moscow’s growth, the districts of Russia lag behind not only on GDP, but on infrastructure, communal services and even basic commodities. There are jobs, but those are low-paid so the production could remain cheap on the internal market and have a greater range for a mark-up for export. Not that the value of the mark-up will ever return to those districts - oh no! Corruption in the capital and oligarch’s interests take of that. Keeping regions poor is considered incentive in Russian culture and as bad as it sounds - it works perfectly well. Take a look at the volunteers who went to invade Ukraine and the countless stories of their families. They are in for the promised money, which are as much as 4 times higher than what they’re getting paid on their regular jobs.

You’re starting to get the picture, right?! There is another benefit of keeping people poor in those districts and it is an unlike one, from which Russia benefited during the first wave of mobilisation. It’s travel or the innate inability of poor Russians to afford it. Granted, a lot of people managed to escape Russia and mobilisation, but that’s still a small percentage and most of those who sought escape from war were living in the border regions anyway. It’s the Stalinist limit of movement with new methods. The benefits of this tactic are the disproportionate mobilisation amongst ethnic minorities. The ones who are Russians only on paper, who don’t fancy Moscow too much, who have the potential to bring pain to the dictator by claiming independence in the foreseeable future and leaving Moscow without their precious resources.

With all that said, there are plenty of Russians still blindly believing to their dictator and are willing to die in the invasion in Ukraine or support it outright from home. Those wouldn’t be possible without the merciless Hunger Games style propaganda, spilling from literally everywhere and entering directly into what little brains they have left. While the capital has abundant means to find information past the state-ran media propaganda and enough educated people to provide them, the districts are not in a position to achieve such feats. Neither those districts have access to proficient education, which is where all good things begin, nor they have the technical/economical means to bypass what’s being served to them by the media. So if the TV says “Russia is winning” they have no base for comparison and no option to not believe it. This is where the similarities with the Hunger Games and the Russian districts end, because Russian state propaganda has been sufficient in wiping clean the memories of past conflicts. While the Hunger Games districts wore the deep scars of the last rebellion, Russian regions don’t really remember the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan or the two Chechen wars.

Enough with the brainwashing - let’s take a look at the dictator itself. Vladimir Putin is not above killing children as we all found out when Russia bombed countless maternity wards and kindergartens in Ukraine with impunity. He is pure evil, no doubt about it. But like Hunger Games president Coriolanus Snow, he wasn’t always like that. They both came from a humble existence and became vicious villains who killed their own just to keep in power. To keep their wealth, their way of life, their positions as leaders in nations of slaves. They have no quit and they are willing to sacrifice their own people without the slightest regret or consideration. Both are old, possibly dying sooner rather than later. With no perspective in front of them. Nothing but a blind ambition to rule forever. In a world where war is suicidal. This is where the characters start to differ. While Snow is all about preservation, Putin wants his empire to expand and subjugate other nations. Putin wants to be seen as a more than just a president - he wants to be seen as king, conqueror and the ultimate ruler of a long-lost empire.

There are similarities even in division. The methods are equally ruthless while the objectives were equally distant. And while Snow had considered the rebellion, even though he didn’t manage to supress it, Putin has considered nothing of sorts. Wagner almost drove to the Kremlin with basically nothing resembling a meaningful army. A few pieces of armour and a handful of mercenaries were not stopped by soldiers or law enforcement. Worse still for Putin - his own subjects were cheering for Wagner and he’s still not seeing the signs. Rebellion may be brewing sooner than all of us think. It’s just needs the right spark to start the fire. By that point, Putin’s own army and police might be at a breaking point and may turn against him. Those are only speculations, of course, but for the sake of similarities between a movie and a country - everything is possible. I would even go as far as calling it likely.

In conclusion, the current state of Russia is more resembling to a fictional movie series than an actual 21st century country. A failed state, plagued by inequality, corruption and severe dictatorship, not far from a major rebellion. Do you agree with this assessment? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for reading!