(Hunger) Survival Machines

The term "survival machine" reminds me of The Hunger Games. The tributes which are thought of as machines that are designed to fight each other and struggle for survival, are placed in an arena made to make their lives as difficult and miserable as possible. Through The Hunger Games we understand how the capitol and its spectators are godlike creatures expecting those who depend on them to behave like selfish machines programmed to do anything in order to survive.

In another way, The Selfish Gene can relate to The Hunger Games by the genes playing the role of the capitol, while the different species play the tributes. By capitol I mean sponsors, government and citizens that enjoy watching The Hunger Games to entertain themselves. Like genes, they encourage selfish behavior, because they understand that it is the only way to survive. Like the machines, species are forced by the capitol to compete against each other in the arena. Very much like mother nature has a test that will decide if they are worthy or not to continue on earth: natural selection.