The Future is Now . . . Hungry?

Well people, the future doesn’t look so good for us. It hasn’t for a while now actually. At least not according to books, movies, or pretty much any other form of media.

So far this year I’ve read two books that take place in the “not-too-distant” future. These weren’t some geeky space books. They were both bestsellers and made into movies; The Hunger Games & World War Z. I read The Hunger Games at the end of 2012 and finished out the trilogy in January. I just finish reading World War Z last month. Each book had very interesting concepts and unique storytelling traits from the authors. But there seemed to be a common thread between them; People were hungry!

Of course hunger is obviously going to play a role when the book is called The Hunger Games. In World War Z people aren’t wanting food, the people are the food. I’m not sure why our society always anticipates a post-apocalyptic future but we do. The only future-tense book I can think of where countries are still intact is The Time Traveler’s Wife and I didn’t read that book. I only watched the movie (see Books for Guys Who Like Movies for more). Maybe it’s because we’re all cynics. Maybe it’s because we are all created with the knowledge that something in the future will occur and it probably won’t turn out great for most of the world (i.e. The Book of Revelations). Regardless of the reasons, we think the outlook might not be rosy.

So because of this, I’ve created three tips for survival based on these books. Here they are:

1. Find Good Names-The number one tip for survival rests in whatever the main character does and the best way to find him or her is check out the names. Herberts, Bobs, and Theodores probably aren’t going to make it. Follow the main character and you have a good chance. Worst-case scenario you die at the end of the book, which is at least better than the beginning.
2. Avoid Unknown Nouns-Zaks, Lobos, Walkers, Biters, Tracker Jackers, Muts, Arenas, and Gamemakers. None of these are good things. If you are stuck somewhere with people throwing around a bunch of words you’ve never heard of, just assume they are bad.
3. Watch the Numbers-Keep your eyes on the numbers. Big crowds moving in one direction is not a good sign, especially when they are headed towards you. Also, a made-up statistic by me says that about one in every three people die in post-apocalyptic books. So if you are “hoofing” it with two people named something like Katlip Everclean or Brock Johnson, get out of there. Forget tip #1 and leave them behind. Run away and consider changing your name to something cool.  

I hope these tips are helpful. Maybe we won’t have to use them. According to everything we see and hear the future looks bleak – and hungry. So when you leave your house, be sure to pack a sandwich.