PT jedi pensions

Did the Jedi get payed for their services?

Where did the Order get it's funds?

 

The Order is maintained by the Republic, much as the Smithsonian is funded by the United States government.

 

During the Black Fleet Crisis trilogy, this is made a point of- Akanah suggests that the Jedi might be a bit too close to the government because of this- and that the government may be able to coerce the Jedi into doing what they want, by taking away the Jedi's funding.

 

The Jedi Order was funded by the Republic, and if they didn't pack for their missions before hand, the Jedi used Republic credits to purchase things they needed while on missions, but they were neither paid a salary nor a wage to do their jobs. The Jedi are selfless, they don't do what they do for profit, they do it because they believe what they are doing is right and for the greater good of all beings of the Galaxy.

 

I don't know what the EU says about any of this, but I always kind of thought that the Jedi were payed similar to how clergy are paid. They get some sort of salary, albeit very minimal, but they do get something. After all, how could Obi-Wan pay for that drink in AOTC? I'm thinking he didn't use a jedi mind trick....

 

Fascinating stuff. I wonder whether they got any kind of tax relief as a religious institution? Which raises another question, why did the films not feature anything in the way of accounts or payroll? WHAT ARE THEY HIDING?

 

They're not a religion, for starters. They're a part of the Republic government that combines the FBI, the CIA, and the Green Lantern Corps.

And no. Jedi don't get paid for being Jedi. No possessions, remember? They have funds available to them to help with mission accomplishment (hence how Qui-Gon has money in TPM) but we never see any indication that they actually get a salary.

 

So what you're saying is that Qui Gon was carrying a wad of 20,000 republic credits in 'expenses' and that no proper financial records were kept? That the Jedi Order were basically an interstellar band of tax dodgers?

Well I, for one, am glad that Ian McDiarmid took them to task. Damn shame he left the Almeida theatre, though. The place just hasn't been the same.

edit:-
Tired, can't spell.

 

Ah, then he used petty cash to pay for that drink in AOTC!

 

A dead man buying drinks with petty cash? Is there no end to this duplicity? Who's responsible for auditing these crooks?

 

I'm fairly certain the Republic credits Qui-Gon was throwing around were probably cobbled together from everyone on board the starship. Jedi probably get petty cash walking around money which they would need for missions and so forth. But they gotta dump it back into the pile of Republic credits sitting at the front door of the temple whenever they come back.

 

I always believed it was through donations, although when in service of the government they would get some help with the expenses.

But they are, in part, a religious order.

 

Yes, the Jedi are a religious order. They almost worship the Force. Their entire lives are centered around it. If you put it into context, the Jedi order is kind of like the Catholic Church in the middle ages, with the Jedi being the Knights Templer, Hospitalers, etc. They fought the "infidels" from the Middle East, the Islamic people, who could be the Sith. btw I'm not trying to be racist or anything. The catholic church could be the sith and the islamic people the jedi.

This is further backed by Palpatine telling everyone that the Jedi are evil. Back in the day, Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V were worried that the Templars had too much power and stuff. So they purged the order and a good majority of it were burned at the stake. This is similar to Order 66, with the clones killing their Jedi commanders, except that Palpatine was a Sith, while the Philip and Clement weren't Islamic (again, no racism).

 

They seem more like a clan of money-laundering mafiosi to me.

 

They didn't need that much money. All they need is a few bucks, and they can clean up at the craps table.

Also, I don't think they had pension plans. Could you imagine how much they would have had to pay Yoda? They probably had a 401K or a Roth IRA

 

From the Republic

 

Giving them $ is okay because in theory Jedi are not supposed to use it for unecessary personal things.

 

Certainly in-universe characters seem to agree. Han calls it a "hokey religion"- Motti speaks of Vader's "sad devotion to that ancient religion" Tarkin says that Vader is "all that's left of their religion"

It's called a Jedi temple, not a Jedi academy.

The EU gets even more overt about it, with a Master being "excommunicated from the Jedi Order" and variant views on the Force, such as the Potentium, being called "heresy".

 

I would prefer that they would be funded by donations and tax deductions. They save so many planets and end so many civil wars they should easily be able to maintain the Order.

 

Tax deductions based on what, though? Not like they're a business...kinda tricky to pay taxes at all when you're a non-profit

 

They must have had their own funds, like a non-profit org. Otherwise, they'd be too dependent on the government.

Yoda was smart enough to build himself a retirement shack in the swamps of Dagobah

 

He just ordered it form ebay.

 

So the Jedi-mind-tricking everyone out of their winnings the weekly bingo game so they keep the profits and keep the order running wouldn't be Dark Side because of the greater good it does for the galaxy, right?