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Author	Topic: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
eclipseSD Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 11:03am Subject: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	From the Weekly Standard: STAR WARS RETURNS today with its fifth installment, "Attack of the Clones." There will be talk of the Force and the Dark Side and the epic morality of George Lucas's series. But the truth is that from the beginning, Lucas confused the good guys with the bad. The deep lesson of Star Wars is that the Empire is good. It's a difficult leap to make--embracing Darth Vader and the Emperor over the plucky and attractive Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia--but a careful examination of the facts, sorted apart from Lucas's off-the-shelf moral cues, makes a quite convincing case. First, an aside: For the sake of this discussion, I've considered only the history gleaned from the actual Star Wars films, not the Expanded Universe. If you know what the Expanded Universe is and want to argue that no discussion of Star Wars can be complete without considering material outside the canon, that's fine. However, it's always been my view that the comic books and novels largely serve to clean up Lucas's narrative and philosophical messes. Therefore, discussions of intrinsic intent must necessarily revolve around the movies alone. You may disagree, but please don't e-mail me about it. If you don't know what the Expanded Universe is, well, uh, neither do I. I. The Problems with the Galactic Republic At the beginning of the Star Wars saga, the known universe is governed by the Galactic Republic. The Republic is controlled by a Senate, which is, in turn, run by an elected chancellor who's in charge of procedure, but has little real power. Scores of thousands of planets are represented in the Galactic Senate, and as we first encounter it, it is sclerotic and ineffectual. The Republic has grown over many millennia to the point where there are so many factions and disparate interests, that it is simply too big to be governable. Even the Republic's staunchest supporters recognize this failing: In "The Phantom Menace," Queen Amidala admits, "It is clear to me now that the Republic no longer functions." In "Attack of the Clones," young Anakin Skywalker observes that it simply "doesn't work." The Senate moves so slowly that it is powerless to stop aggression between member states. In "The Phantom Menace" a supra-planetary alliance, the Trade Federation (think of it as OPEC to the Galactic Republic's United Nations), invades a planet and all the Senate can agree to do is call for an investigation. Like the United Nations, the Republic has no armed forces of its own, but instead relies on a group of warriors, the Jedi knights, to "keep the peace." The Jedi, while autonomous, often work in tandem with the Senate, trying to smooth over quarrels and avoid conflicts. But the Jedi number only in the thousands--they cannot protect everyone. What's more, it's not clear that they should be "protecting" anyone. The Jedi are Lucas's great heroes, full of Zen wisdom and righteous power. They encourage people to "use the Force"--the mystical energy which is the source of their power--but the truth, revealed in "The Phantom Menace," is that the Force isn't available to the rabble. The Force comes from midi-chlorians, tiny symbiotic organisms in people's blood, like mitochondria. The Force, it turns out, is an inherited, genetic trait. If you don't have the blood, you don't get the Force. Which makes the Jedi not a democratic militia, but a royalist Swiss guard. And an arrogant royalist Swiss guard, at that. With one or two notable exceptions, the Jedi we meet in Star Wars are full of themselves. They ignore the counsel of others (often with terrible consequences), and seem honestly to believe that they are at the center of the universe. When the chief Jedi record-keeper is asked in "Attack of the Clones" about a planet she has never heard of, she replies that if it's not in the Jedi archives, it doesn't exist. (The planet in question does exist, again, with terrible consequences.) In "Attack of the Clones," a mysterious figure, Count Dooku, leads a separatist movement of planets that want to secede from the Republic. Dooku promises these confederates smaller government, unlimited free trade, and an "absolute commitment to capitalism." Dooku's motives are suspect--it's not clear whether or not he believes in these causes. However, there's no reason to doubt the motives of the other separatists--they seem genuinely to want to make a fresh start with a government that isn't bloated and dysfunctional. The Republic, of course, is eager to quash these separatists, but they never make a compelling case--or any case, for that matter--as to why, if they are such a freedom-loving regime, these planets should not be allowed to check out of the Republic and take control of their own destinies. II. The Empire We do not yet know the exact how's and why's, but we do know this: At some point between the end of Episode II and the beginning of Episode IV, the Republic is replaced by an Empire. The first hint comes in "Attack of the Clones," when the Senate's Chancellor Palpatine is granted emergency powers to deal with the separatists. It spoils very little to tell you that Palpatine eventually becomes the Emperor. For a time, he keeps the Senate in place, functioning as a rubber-stamp, much like the Roman imperial senate, but a few minutes into Episode IV, we are informed that the he has dissolved the Senate, and that "the last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away." Lucas wants the Empire to stand for evil, so he tells us that the Emperor and Darth Vader have gone over to the Dark Side and dresses them in black. But look closer. When Palpatine is still a senator, he says, "The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good." At one point he laments that "the bureaucrats are in charge now." Palpatine believes that the political order must be manipulated to produce peace and stability. When he mutters, "There is no civility, there is only politics," we see that at heart, he's an esoteric Straussian. Make no mistake, as emperor, Palpatine is a dictator--but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet. It's a dictatorship people can do business with. They collect taxes and patrol the skies. They try to stop organized crime (in the form of the smuggling rings run by the Hutts). The Empire has virtually no effect on the daily life of the average, law-abiding citizen. Also, unlike the divine-right Jedi, the Empire is a meritocracy. The Empire runs academies throughout the galaxy (Han Solo begins his career at an Imperial academy), and those who show promise are promoted, often rapidly. In "The Empire Strikes Back" Captain Piett is quickly promoted to admiral when his predecessor "falls down on the job." And while it's a small point, the Empire's manners and decorum speak well of it. When Darth Vader is forced to employ bounty hunters to track down Han Solo, he refuses to address them by name. Even Boba Fett, the greatest of all trackers, is referred to icily as "bounty hunter." And yet Fett understands the protocol. When he captures Solo, he calls him "Captain Solo." (Whether this is in deference to Han's former rank in the Imperial starfleet, or simply because Han owns and pilots his own ship, we don't know. I suspect it's the former.) But the most compelling evidence that the Empire isn't evil comes in "The Empire Strikes Back" when Darth Vader is battling Luke Skywalker. After an exhausting fight, Vader is poised to finish Luke off, but he stays his hand. He tries to convert Luke to the Dark Side with this simple plea: "There is no escape. Don't make me destroy you. . . . Join me, and I will complete your training. With our combined strength, we can end this destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy." It is here we find the real controlling impulse for the Dark Side and the Empire. The Empire doesn't want slaves or destruction or "evil." It wants order. None of which is to say that the Empire isn't sometimes brutal. In Episode IV, Imperial stormtroopers kill Luke's aunt and uncle and Grand Moff Tarkin orders the destruction of an entire planet, Alderaan. But viewed in context, these acts are less brutal than they initially appear. Poor Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen reach a grisly end, but only after they aid the rebellion by hiding Luke and harboring two fugitive droids. They aren't given due process, but they are traitors. The destruction of Alderaan is often cited as ipso facto proof of the Empire's "evilness" because it seems like mass murder--planeticide, even. As Tarkin prepares to fire the Death Star, Princess Leia implores him to spare the planet, saying, "Alderaan is peaceful. We have no weapons." Her plea is important, if true. But the audience has no reason to believe that Leia is telling the truth. In Episode IV, every bit of information she gives the Empire is willfully untrue. In the opening, she tells Darth Vader that she is on a diplomatic mission of mercy, when in fact she is on a spy mission, trying to deliver schematics of the Death Star to the Rebel Alliance. When asked where the Alliance is headquartered, she lies again. Leia's lies are perfectly defensible--she thinks she's serving the greater good--but they make her wholly unreliable on the question of whether or not Alderaan really is peaceful and defenseless. If anything, since Leia is a high-ranking member of the rebellion and the princess of Alderaan, it would be reasonable to suspect that Alderaan is a front for Rebel activity or at least home to many more spies and insurgents like Leia. Whatever the case, the important thing to recognize is that the Empire is not committing random acts of terror. It is engaged in a fight for the survival of its regime against a violent group of rebels who are committed to its destruction. III. After the Rebellion As we all know from the final Star Wars installment, "Return of the Jedi," the rebellion is eventually successful. The Emperor is assassinated, Darth Vader abdicates his post and dies, the central governing apparatus of the Empire is destroyed in a spectacular space battle, and the rebels rejoice with their small, annoying Ewok friends. But what happens next? (There is a raft of literature on this point, but, as I said at the beginning, I'm going to ignore it because it doesn't speak to Lucas's original intent.) In Episode IV, after Grand Moff Tarkin announces that the Imperial Senate has been abolished, he's asked how the Emperor can possibly hope to keep control of the galaxy. "The regional governors now have direct control over territories," he says. "Fear will keep the local systems in line." So under Imperial rule, a large group of regional potentates, each with access to a sizable army and star destroyers, runs local affairs. These governors owe their fealty to the Emperor. And once the Emperor is dead, the galaxy will be plunged into chaos. In all of the time we spend observing the Rebel Alliance, we never hear of their governing strategy or their plans for a post-Imperial universe. All we see are plots and fighting. Their victory over the Empire doesn't liberate the galaxy--it turns the galaxy into Somalia writ large: dominated by local warlords who are answerable to no one. Which makes the rebels--Lucas's heroes--an unimpressive crew of anarchic royals who wreck the galaxy so that Princess Leia can have her tiara back. -----signature----- Totus Tuus
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Ree Yees Registered: Apr '00	Date Posted: 1/5/03 11:13am Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Interesting, to say the least. I've always been a Palpatine supporter -----signature----- Let down by the Special Editions. Tormented by the Prequel Trilogy. Soothed by the LOTR trilogy. Risen, harder and stronger, by A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE
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Blackout Registered: Oct '00	Date Posted: 1/5/03 12:36pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Hmmm. An interesting passage. Holes in it here and there, and so much for the 'no expanded universe' precursor. Still. Nothing that hadn't already crossed my mind though I'm afraid. Everyone knows that one man's 'freedom fighter' is another man's 'terrorist'. "A lot of the truths we cling to depend on our point of view". {\|\|\|\|\| •\|\|} ----------------------------- -----signature----- Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus. ULCER are from Margate... http://www.ulcer8d.org.uk
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ForceHeretic Registered: Dec '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 1:05pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Makes some good points, but nothing most of us didn't already know Who the heck wrote that article, probably some member of Al Queida or however u spell it, or a Sadaam supporter haha -----signature----- "It's the unconquerable soul of man, and not the nature of the weapon he uses, that ensures victory" "Moral courage is the most valuable and usually the most absent characteristic in men" - The Great General Patton Nom Anor Will Return
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batvader Registered: Dec '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 2:17pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	I have read this article long ago in its original source (can't remember the URL). Enjoyable read and good points. -----signature----- "I find your lack of frappe disturbing" - Me
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JediMasterEllic_Kier Registered: Nov '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 2:28pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Interesting article. Completly misguided, but interesting. There are, as stated before, some GIANT holes in his examples. I wonder what this persons feeling on the Revolution against the Brits would be. -----signature----- I love the PT, so deal with it!
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son-of-skywalker13 Registered: May '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 2:43pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	no no no you are looking way to far in to this .... dont forget how many people vader and the emperor killed for no reason including owen and beru ... they were not traitors ... they didnt know who the droids were and they just wanted luke to live a normal life ... -----signature----- Luke, Obi Wan, Yoda ... the last and best jedi awww cannot get your ship out? once you start down the path of the dark side forever will it dominate your destiny Youve failed your highness ... I am a jedi, like my father before me
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DarthKarde Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 2:58pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	An impressive arguement in favour of the Empire, probably the best I have read, but no arguement can change the facts. -----signature----- The UK Independance Party - http://www.ukip.org The Freedom Association - http://www.tfa.net Better Off Out - http://www.betteroffout.co.uk Say NO2ID and the database state - http://www.no2id.net/
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debeautimous Registered: Jan '03	Date Posted: 1/5/03 3:07pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Perhaps you should move to IRAQ. Democracy is the worst form of government except for everything else! The day you stop believing democracy can work is the day you lose it! -----signature----- I am sure an opportunity will present itself - Qui Gon Jinn I love Qui Gon http://boards.theforce.net/Fan_Fiction_Stories--Classic_JC_Board_(Reply-Only)/b10016/10629801/?382 Please read my story!
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DarthGizmo Registered: Oct '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 4:06pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Interesting that a couple of people have mentioned Iraq in arguments against this thread. Could Leia's "Aladeraan is peacefuland defenceless" line be similar to Saddam Hussein's current rhetoric of "Iraq does not have weopans of mass destruction". Also is the destruction of Alderaan not analogous to dropping an atomic bomb on Hirosima? Anyway, this theory has one obvious flaw that noone else has mentioned. About the Empire... "They collect taxes and patrol the skies. They try to stop organized crime (in the form of the smuggling rings run by the Hutts). " Hello.... Did Vader not decide to test the carbonite freezing on Han because he knew the Hutts were after him?
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Moriarte Registered: Aug '01	Date Posted: 1/5/03 9:36pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Biggest waste of time ever. There are plenty of giant misinterpretations in there to herd a Rancor through. His justifications are incredibly thin. Ciou-See the Sig -----signature----- This shaking keeps me steady. I should know. What falls away is always. And is near. I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow. I learn by going where I have to go. ~Theodore Roethke~
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Lord_Hydronium Registered: Jun '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 11:20pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Some people take things way too seriously. Anyone ever heard of tongue in cheek? Or playing devil's advocate? Why is it that whenever a pro-Empire argument is posted a bunch of people have to respond "OMG u r a Nazi and why don't u go to Iraq or the Taliban"? These types of threads tend to bring out a lot of ad hominem. For once it would be nice to see a debate on its own merits, not one where some anti-Imperials accuse the other side of being fascists or anti-democracy. Perhaps I'll build my case for the Empire and start such a thread. -----signature----- Great midis have little midis Swimming round inside 'em And little midis have lesser midis And so ad infinitum.
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sergejg Registered: Sep '02	Date Posted: 1/5/03 11:22pm Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Whoever wrote this is a genius. I agree with everything, this is like a sinthesis of everything I have ever thought about StarWars. I agree with other people that posted as well. USA is the empire. Check this quotes: "The regional governors now have direct control over territories,". "Fear will keep the local systems in line." Its the exact same situation of planet earth today. -----signature----- >>>>> sergejg >>>>> check out my band !!!! http://www.sexybluefish.com/ssmn/
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Delance Registered: Oct '02	Date Posted: 1/6/03 12:28am Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Interesting that when the Republic tries to use negociation to keep systems from declaring independence it is evil, but when the Empire uses Terror weapons and mass murders for the same purpose, it's good. Moreal relativism at its best. Empire is evil. Palpatine is evil. He is from the dark side. Not the good side, not the light side. Not the east, weast, north or south sides, neither. All arguments that the Empire is good fails when one realizes that it must use terror and violance to remain in power, and everyone just hates it. When it's over, celebrations can be seen across the galaxy.
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Darth_THX-1138 Registered: Jan '03	Date Posted: 1/6/03 1:25am Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	Moriarte, You said that there were holes in the logic large enough to move a herd of rancors through. Funny that you don't back that up with any example. At least EclipseSD backs up his ideas on the Empire being good with example in his article. Why don't you back up what you have to say about the article with some examples. Where are the holes in the logic.
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DarthDrew Registered: Sep '02	Date Posted: 1/6/03 9:10am Subject: RE: A case for the Empire: Everything you know about Star Wars is wrong
	son_of_skywalker13, one of your main arguments is that Owen and Beru (O&B) were neutral and just wanted to live "a normal life." Let's examine the information we have currently for a minute. We first meet O&B in the SW timeline in AOTC. They are moisture farmers along with Owen's father, Clieg. This is also the second time we have met C-3PO (who now has coverings, albeit crude). When Anakin leaves he takes C-3PO with him. Presumably, the next time we meet O&B will be in Ep III when OB1 brings young Luke to live with them. This would be their first possible act of treason. They know who his father is (as evidenced in ANH). They choose to take the child rather than turn him over to the father. We don't know if they know Luke's importance to the Empire, yet. Fast forward to ANH. My first question doesn't necessarily have to do with O&B, but it could. Why did the battle take place over Tatooine? Tatooine is near the outer rim of the galaxy. It is not near Alderaan or Coruscant or Yavin - all the places that are important to the rebellion at this point. I have a theory, but it can wait for a bit. When we next, and finally, meet O&B in ANH, Cleig is long dead. Owen knows C-3PO and possibly Artoo from AOTC. It seems curious, in hindsight, why he doesn't recognize the two droids. Possibly he does and he just plays it cagey. What is the first thing he says after finding out that Artoo has a hidden message? He doesn't ask to see it. He orders it erased. Could he possibly know what the message is? You can't swing a dead cat around the US these days without hitting someone who knows how to wipe a computers memory. Why did Luke specifically have to go to Anchorhead? Could Owen be instructing Luke take the droids specifically to Anchorhead to have the memory delivered to a contact who could then deliver the information to the rebellion? The same contact that Leia should have met? Perhaps this is the reason for the above quandry - Leia could have been bringing the information to a bounty hunter on Tatooine to be delivered for her. This would make a lot of sense for another reason: giving sensitive information to such a high-profile person is foolishness. It is better to have it delivered by some low-profile person in secret. Second question on Owen and his farm: why did Owen erase all the history? Anakin's mother had a grave at the farm. When Luke left, he simply looked at the destruction, decided and left. Could it be possible that he didn't even know of Shmi's gravesite? Also, considering Luke, himself. He said in ANH how he wanted to go to "the academy." Presumably this is the Imperial Academy, since the rebellion probably did not have an academy except for "the school of hard knocks." Why was Owen so adamant that Luke not go to there? It could have been as protection for Luke's wellbeing. It could have been because Owen did not want to lose a worker. It could also have been because he did not want Luke to go to the side of the Empire. So, if this is the case, why didn't Owen simply hand Luke over to OB1 to be trained as a child? This reason should be obvious. He had seen OB1's training in Anakin. He didn't have a high opinion of where that would lead poor Luke, so he refused OB1's offer. Better to keep Luke here as his bag-man then give the Empire another Darth Vader. There are a lot of possibilities here. There are also a lot of holes, I'm sure. Feel free to pick it apart, but if you do, please accept that it is at least possible that O&B may not be the saints that people think they are. -----signature----- 9 out of 10 doctors agree, if you remove our skin we look exactly the same underneath! "Supporting our troops" and "Disagreeing with the administration" are _not_ mutually exclusive concepts!
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