[Smokin' Joe]

that a city that could build an arena far beyond anything the present day could achieve, could also be dependent on the raw materials produced by depopulated hinterlands with early twentieth century technology at best

Think North Dakota wheatfields and Noo Yawk City.

[heartwood]

ND wheat fields are producing with late 20th c. technology - fossil fuel fertilizers and giant harvesters - and NYC can’t stage the Hunger Games or anything close to it.