#class conflict

Nobody has ever genuinely loved labor the way boomers pretend they did. Please go tell that to the 80-year-old men who spent their entire youth without basic labor rights, destroying their bodies in miserable jobs, ending up with chronic pain, unresolved trauma, and fifty thousand health problems because they were exploited half to death by the system. They didn’t enjoy working either. They hated it.

It’s not news that the genre of dystopian fiction is used by authors as a tool to create a world mirroring ours, one open to being exposed and examined under a critical lens, a living diagnostic mirror showing contemporary social, political, and often economic issues. Oftentimes, it is focused on not  yet fully developed issues, but those we can still avoid, anxieties and visions of a potential future which is headed our way, yet avoidable if examinations and critiques of these books are taken seriously. Dystopian fiction doesn’t invent issues for the future, it takes seeds of sociopolitical issues, existing dynamics, and metaphorically blasts them onto a huge screen; amplifies them, exposes them, and presents them as what they stand for, what they could become (Princesa & Munjid, 2023). 

Suzanne Collins perfectly embodies this use of dystopian fiction, we see her clear intent of honoring the genre starting with her construction of Panem dynamics. Panem is constructed with a very clear example of structural inequality, it is an authoritarian government, and it uses violence as a way to control the masses. But before I get ahead of myself and deep dive into the violence presented in the books, we need to focus on the extreme inequality presented within them. The Capitol’s control over the districts is inspired by economic disparity we see in real life, these patterns of accumulation of wealth by the elite and the contrast of the situation within the districts which are deprived of resources to various degrees, most of all the neglect and lack of basic resources we see represented in District 12 is consistent with late stage capitalism and it reflects a system in which economic disparity is visibly institutionalized. 

This is a good moment to talk about Marx and his perspective of structures such as this one, as he writes about class relation first and foremost; Marx (1867/1976)’s vision of capitalism is of a system in which the ruling class accumulates wealth and resources by exploiting labor and the working class. This produces a clear, visible division between those who control the means of production and those whose labor is being exploited. The fictional country of Panem brings this to a whole new level because they forced the districts into complete specialization of labor and production; this intensified the oppressive power dynamic the Capitol has with the rest of the country. They decide who produces the goods, which goods they produce, and what they produce is taken and redistributed by the Capitol - all in a way that isn’t equitable. Andreani (2017) would call this a form of systemic oppression - which, don’t get me wrong, it 100% is, I am just stating that he specifically defines this; he also emphasizes that, in this particular system, the status quo is not just maintained through economic extraction and control, it’s also largely using political and ideological mechanisms (basically a shit load of propaganda) to both limit the autonomy individuals have and districts can be allowed as units - they pour a lot of energy in maintaining dependency and spreading fear as a control mechanism. It is worth noting that dystopian critique of the world is not only rooted in economy nor shown through the lens of a made up economic system (despite it being rooted in reality) within a made-up world; these structures also include a lot of cultural aspects of power, and a whole list of symbolic representations and displays of power the Capitol has. 

The Hunger Games as a central structure of the books/movies serve as a prime example of how violence can be used as a tool of oppression (duh), but also how violence can be not just normalized (and yes, we do see the normalization of violence in our real world, just look at how we process news of school shootings in america, mass shootings there in general, how we react to news of the genocide and conflict in west asia, how we scroll through so many videos of extreme violence on our feeds, how we skip horror movies because they’re not violent enough, etc), but also they show us how violence can be celebrated and how that celebration can be socially acceptable on a large scale (Yes, we see that in real life, too, but in a much less obvious widespread way). The games were framed as punishment for sins of the past, a past rebellion, and they are now a form of national entertainment, and by doing that, the Capitol uses them to obscure the depth of structural inequality present in Panem. It also goes hand in hand with all the theoretical views that speak of the elite, the dominant social group taking meaning and shaping it in order to use it to legitimize their own authority. The Hunger Games is also a dystopia that, like many of them do, discusses the terms in which a rebellion or revolution can not only appear, but also thrive  and succeed. The Hunger Games are especially worth mentioning here, because Sunrise on the Reaping also speaks about the importance of discussing that rebellions fail, that it is almost necessary to have movements that make mistakes, start too soon, choose the wrong symbols and wrong people, that not every revolution starts off perfect - and The Hunger Games also touches on this by making Coin the lesser evil who is still inherently evil and a bad fit as the leader of a new Panem. Nur et al. (2024) demonstrate that the acts of rebellion depicted in The Hunger Games are also curated (in writing) to go hand in hand with the political circumstances that make the rebellion necessary such as the specific structural inequality in place, resource imbalance, and political provocation. These things would then essentially suggest that a rebellion and acts of it are not an anomaly in worlds that are governed by systems defined by the domination of the political elite, but rather that they are their inherent feature. 

From a sociological standpoint, this basically reflects the basic idea that power relations and dynamics within systems are dynamic, and that the power is contested (although sometimes that may be seen through smaller acts of rebellion), rather than just being set in stone and absolute. The Hunger Games also brings up the point of how important interpretation is in these situations, and how the way people engage with symbols, ideologies, and beliefs matters. Curwood (2013) puts an emphasis on how the role of interpretation and meaning making is also on the shoulders of us readers when we engage with the content in ways that are not just passive consumption. To put is simply and use a phrase we’ve all heard to prove a point, regardless of author’s intent, the curtains are just blue unless we engage with their existence on a page in an active way and until we, the readers, assign them meaning based on both the context of the work, its original environment that made its creation possible, and events/conventions we as readers consider important. This participatory dimension of reading reinforces the capacity of dystopia to act as a critique because it encourages readers to compare them to the real world systems reflected within these imaginary worlds, it invites audiences to analyze them, to look for solutions. 

An example of this is easily seen in the depiction of District 12, and it is the easiest example to use since we see most of what is happening there (and please, put aside the fact that Katniss is an unreliable narrator for a moment, it’s not important right now), the most basic description of the situation within District 12 is that it is completely defined by their poverty and hunger that stems from it, Lucy, Haymitch, and Katniss all give us clear images of that poverty and how it is a constant, regular occurrence that they themselves are basically desensitized to, we have had many direct and indirect lines showing how constant the poverty and starvation within District 12 are from people simply dying against buildings and on the side of roads and paths, collapsing from starvation, illegal activities centered around pure survival, subtle hints at prostitution, black markets, etc. These are examples of things that represent the current situation in many places, and also reflect the concerns currently present in the world, it also resonates with marginalized communities.

Prior to volunteering for the games, Katniss’ primary role was being the sole provider for her family since her father died and her mother’s mental health completely declined after his death, all the responsibility fell on her, that role falling on a sixteen year old underscores the rough situation the district is in, it shows how hard it is to survive, and it gives us a perfect example of how these structural, systemic issues shape individual experiences. Katniss’ father didn’t just die of an illness or old age, he died in a mining accident. District 12 is a mining district, and these kinds of accidents are painted of relatively common due to lack of regard for the safety of the workers, her mother essentially shut down after his death as the result of lack of a support system, lack of mental health care. These issues might not entirely present the same way in the real world, but they are present and easy to understand. The contrast between the Capitol and District 12 is also made and written to be jarring; we know that this isn’t the case in every district, and that some are richer than others, District 12 was chosen to drive the point home about inequality and unfair redistribution of goods by making them obvious and easily visible, by doing this it directly reinforces the critical stance of the work. 

The Hunger Games is clear commentary of the present state of the real world, and a warning about the potential future it is facing, and it is reinforcing those messages by amplifying existing issues and including them in new worlds with coherent structure (this is where I think Divergent failed, for the record, the worldbuilding - but that’s a topic for a different day). I think the foundation of the story of The Hunger Games gives a lot to work with and write about, especially when it comes to class control and the development of the resistance.

Sources used:

Andreani, I. A. (2017). Strategy of oppression against the people by the ruling elite reflected in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games novels trilogy (2008): Marxist theory. Humanis, 19(1), 1–10.

Curwood, J. S. (2013). The Hunger Games: Literature, literacy, and online affinity spaces. Language Arts, 90(6), 417–427.

Marx, K. (1976). Capital: A critique of political economy (Vol. 1) (B. Fowkes, Trans.). Penguin Books. (Original work published 1867)

Multiple times over this week, I scrolled Tumblr and then opened drafts to a blank page, unable to even describe the feelings I had, but amphoreous happened, and I think I can phrase it properly. Imagine Gen Z as the firstborn sons (I'm making a point here, guys) whose father has a farm with fertile land, and with the way things are going, it will be easiest to make a profit from the land in your time. A big farmer in your town who is known for his bountiful harvest but is also known to use dubious methods to get them, goes around saying a mysterious black goup is the reason for his success. he sells this to almost all farmers in the area, including your father, and after looking at the mysterious liquid and touching it, you realise it is something from those pits near the town that no life can escape from once dropped inside. You rush to tell your father and elders dear to you that it can harm the soil around it, just to be yelled at and shut down. They say these were never issues in their youth, so nothing will happen now. 10 years pass, and the crop yields have reduced significantly. Your dad, now in debt, continues to buy this miracle growth goup, proclaiming that he has simply used it wrong and the newest edition of this miracle growth goup will solve all of your problems. by the time he dies the farm barely produces enough for one human, talkless of selling anything and you find out your dad borrowed money to buy goup from the rich man with 80% of the farm as colateral. He effectively has left you nothing but a broken world beyond your ability to fix. With shaky breaths and a sigh full of grief, anger, and disgust mixed together, you walk away from his grave. Gen Z's inheritance is the earth. Let me break it down: only 22% of baby boomers plan to leave anything behind for Gen Z, and that's without taking recent inflation and job losses into account. Gen Z makes more money than their parents and grandparents but spends more of it on living expenses, so basically just for food, water, and shelter. So what is our inheritance if not the earth we live on, one that has been poisoned by the actions of our parents and elders despite the warnings, research and studies, measurements and proofs to say all this is bad. Just for the adults to say "work harder". We are the inheritors of that ancient farm, a farm that was loved and cared for, nurtured just to be destroyed by the ignorance of the masses, who could have reversed the situation if they admitted guilt and listened to the youth. Now we youth, inherit a broken world, and we have no hope for tomorrow. we are silenced, looked at as childish, and when all is said and done, we are to clean up the mess. IRL hobbies of all things are expensive, so cheap dopamine is the way to go. we are addicted to escapism because if we open our eyes to the real world, we will cry blood. Blood of innocent lives lost to this "miracle goup". The ingredients of it are as follows:

Corruption Environmental pollution The deaths of innocents and most importanly greed

Poison grows on this land; it's in our food, in our water, in our clothes, temu hauls, and jobs. The earth is on thin ice, but permafrost is melting, the brain that gave us the gift of innovation houses microplastics, and insects have become scarce. When the alarm bells rang, they pretended to listen and pushed the responsibility onto the consumer for a greener earth. I ask, can the people who buy food from a sick farm be the blame for the land's sickness? Is the son at fault for not forcefully taking control of the land when it was salvageable? or was killing the rich man before he spread further harm the way to go? So yes, Genz is depressed, has a bunch of mental illnesses and makes impulse purchases, and has shitty health, going outside is expensive, treating mental issues is expensive, hangouts are expensive, hobbies are expensive, drugs and supplements are expensive, even bed rotting without working is expensive.

"Queen Victoria was moved also by a sense of social injustice. She observed, for example (26 July 1872) to the Crown Princess*, that 'every sort of vice' was tolerated in the aristocracy, 'whereas the poorer and working classes, who have far less education, and are much more exposed, are abused for the 10th part less evil than their betters commit without the slightest blame. The so-called immorality of the Lower Orders is not to be named on the same day with that of the High and Highest. This is a thing which makes my blood boil."

Victoria gets a lot of flak (some legitimate and some, I think, reactionary), but 1) she's not blind or stupid and 2) some things really never change.

WESPRZYJ STRAJK W JEREMIAS! (ENGLISH BELOW)

Wesprzyj strajkujących w fabryce kominów Jeremias! Już 3 czerwca odejdziemy od naszych stanowisk pracy w walce o podwyżki 800 zł, wydłużenie płatnej przerwy do 30 minut, sprawiedliwy system premiowania i korzystniejszy tryb rozliczania nadgodzin.

Dlaczego strajk?

Fabryka w Gnieźnie to część międzynarodowego koncernu. Jesteśmy spółką zależną wobec Jeremias Abgastechnik GMBH. produkujemy tu m.in. części niezbędne do funkcjonowania niemieckiej fabryki. Spółka-matka w ciągu niespełna 10 lat zwiększyła swoje przychody ponad trzykrotnie, z 64 do 210 mln euro w latach 2015-2023. W 2024 roku pięcioosobowy zarząd naszej firmy, wśród którego zasiada trzech niemieckich członków międzynarodowej grupy Jeremias, wypłacił sobie 1.87 miliona złotych wynagrodzeń. Firma w Gnieźnie korzysta także z finansowej pomocy państwa w zatrudnieniu, otrzymując niemal milion zł rocznie za pracę więźniów w swoich halach fabrycznych zakładu karnego w Gębarzewie.

Wszyscy naszą ciężką pracą wypracowujemy grupie kapitałowej wielomilionowe zyski. Pora, aby w końcu większa część tych zysków trafiała do naszych kieszeni. Mamy takie same żołądki co nasi koledzy w niemieckiej fabryce. Chcemy być lepiej traktowani.

Liczymy, że zarząd Jeremias sp. z o.o. zdecyduje się na polepszenie warunków, zamiast zaryzykować destabilizację spółki. W ciągu ośmiu miesięcy negocjacji z zarządem w ramach sporu zbiorowego oraz po zwolnieniach dwóch związkowych liderów, czujemy że zarząd nie pozostawia nam wyboru. Otrzymaliśmy silny głos wsparcia od pani Minister Rodziny Pracy i Polityki Społecznej, która ogłosiła że według ministerstwa nasz spór zbiorowy jest w pełni legalny i mamy prawo do referendum. Dlatego 15 maja zorganizowaliśmy referendum strajkowe: 72,3 procent załogi oddało głos za podjęciem strajku o godne warunki życia, przy frekwencji sięgającej aż 67 procent. W dodatku zwolniony przewodniczący naszego związku w Jeremias Mariusz Piotrowski otrzymał właśnie sądowy nakaz przywrócenia do pracy. Inspektor PIP oskarżył dyrektor HR Jeremias o nielegalne zwolnienia naszych związkowców. 3. czerwca zaczynamy strajk. Jeśli chcesz pomóc nam wygrać tą walkę, zasil nasz fundusz strajkowy dowolną kwotą!

Dlaczego zrzutka?

Według prawa w Polsce za dni strajku pracownicy nie dostają wynagrodzeń – o ile w toku negocjacji prezes ich nie przyzna. Niskie wypłaty większości z nas nie pozwalają na utrzymanie się w trakcie strajku. Nasz bojowy związek jest wciąż niewielki. Jego fundusze opierają się na niskich składkach płaconych przez pracowników również często zarabiających w okolicach minimalnej krajowej. Dlatego jeśli tylko masz możliwość, bardzo prosimy o wsparcie naszej walki poprzez wpłacenie dowolnej kwoty na zrzutkę.

Z góry dziękujemy i pozdrawiamy z zaciśniętą pięścią,

Inicjatywa Pracownicza w Jeremias

***ENGLISH*** SUPPORT OUR STRIKE IN JEREMIAS CHIMNEY FACTORY! 

Support the strikers at the Jeremias chimney factory! On June 3rd, we will stop our work. We fight for a 800 PLN pay raise (circa 180 euro), extension of the paid break to 30 minutes, a fair bonus system, and a one-month overtime calculation method (instead of 12 months).

Why the strike? The factory in Gniezno is part of an international corporation. We are a subsidiary of Jeremias Abgastechnik GMBH. We produce, among other things, parts necessary for the functioning of the German factory. The parent company has more than tripled its revenues in less than 10 years, from 64 to 210 million euro in the years 2015-2023. In 2024, the five-person management board of our company, which includes three German members of the international Jeremias group, paid themselves as much as 1.87 million złotys in salaries. The company in Gniezno also benefits from financial assistance from the state in employment, receiving almost a million złoty annually for the work of prisoners in its factory halls of the penitentiary in Gębarzewo. We all, with our hard work, generate multi-million profits for the capital group. It's time for a larger part of these profits to finally go into our pockets. We have the same stomachs as our colleagues in the German factory. We want to be treated better.

We hope that the management of Jeremias sp. z o.o. will decide to improve the conditions instead of risking the destabilization of the company. During the eight months of negotiations with the management as part of the collective dispute and after the dismissal of two union leaders, we feel that the management is not leaving us any choice. We received a strong voice of support from the Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy, who announced that according to the ministry, our collective dispute is fully legal and we have the right to a referendum. Therefore, on May 15th, we organized a strike referendum: 72.3 percent of the crew voted in favor of a strike for decent living conditions, with a turnout of as much as 67 percent. In addition, the dismissed chairman of our union at Jeremias, Mariusz Piotrowski, has just received a court order to be reinstated to work. On June 3rd, we are starting the strike. If you want to help us win this fight, contribute any amount to our strike fund!

Why the fundraiser?

According to our Law, in Poland workers do not receive wages for the days of strike (unless the management agrees to provide them during final negotiations). Low paychecks do not allow us to support ourselves and our families during the strike. Our union is still small and its funds are based on contributions paid by workers who very often also earn the minimal wage. 

Therefore if you have the opportunity, we ask you to enable us to continue our struggle by contributing any amount to the fundraiser.