The Invisible Hand in motion

In Revenge of the Sith, Genereal Greivous's ship is called the Invisible Hand. This is not a term that George Lucas created. Rather, it was created by economist Adam Smith to describe his argument that even the greediest, most self-interested actions are "guided" in such a way as to benefit all.

Revenge of the Sith could be seen as setting such a set of circumstances in motion.

-Anakin's lust for Padme leads him down the road to the Dark Side. Specifically, learning that she is pregnant sets his paranoia in motion, resulting in his fall. The result of that pregnancy was Luke, who helped Vader turn that selfish lust into true love and compassion.

-Palpatine hopes to prevent the destruction of the Sith, and the fulfillment of the Jedi prophecy, by luring Anakin to the Dark Side. Having Vader by his side ends up placing Vader in the perfect position to carry out his destiny.

-Prior to this point in time, Anakin was never a remorseless killer. Having him kill Dooku proves to Palpatine that Anakin can be made to kill under orders. Unlike the Sand People and Dooku, the murders he has Anakin carry out later are rationalized as being for the greater good, as essential for bringing peace, justice, liberty, law and order to the Republic. Anakin ultimately realizes that Palpatine himself is the greatest obstacle to those ideals, so his willingness to kill is ultimately visited upon Palpatine, who nurtured that instinct.

-Obi-Wan, by maiming Vader, forced Palpatine to keep looking for a better apprentice, ultimately resting his eyes on Luke. Having his own son thrown into the mix finally forced Vader to make a decision between his son and his master.

-Palpatine saves Anakin from certain death by placing him in that walking iron lung. That keeps him alive long enough to finally bring balance to the Force.

-The act which was meant to assure that the Sith would rule the galaxy forever, ultimately lead to their final destruction.

All these acts of selfishness were initially designed to work for Palpatine or Anakin's personal desires; the rest of the galaxy be damned. Ultimately, they had the opposite effect, leading to Palpatine's death and freedom for the galaxy.

 

Very, very interesting. I never really thought about the fact that Sidious was reviving his future murderer. Though there are worst things than death.


On the other hand I'm a big fan of the invisible hand in society, there's no way to make the world fair and any attempts to make it so will only bring more imbalance.


Back to Star Wars, I too agree that the Invisible Hand was the guiding force in Anakin's life. It's really where he started his unbecoming.

 

On the other hand I'm a big fan of the invisible hand in society, there's no way to make the world fair and any attempts to make it so will only bring more imbalance. /i]

In the real world it doesn't always work out that way. For every businessman whose business creates jobs, stimulates the economy, and provides a public service, there's an Enron. That kind of behavior benefitted nobody.