ON -=The old CLERKS debate=-

Know what I just watched? Clerks. Ya know thet conversation Randal and Dante have about the second Death Star, I was wondering if anyone here has anything to add to, or comment about this hilarious conversation; were the independant contractors working on the Death Star really innocent people trying to scrape out a living, or did they deserve to die for working for the Empire?
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RANDAL - The second time around, it wasn't even finished yet. They were still under construction.

DANTE - So?

RANDAL - A construction job of that magnitude would require a helluva lot more manpower than the Imperial army had to offer. I'll bet there were independent contractors working on that thing: plumbers, aluminum siders, roofers.

DANTE - Not just Imperials, is what you're getting at.

RANDAL - Exactly. In order to get it built quickly and quietly they'd hire anybody who could do the job. Do you think the average storm trooper knows how to install a toilet main? All they know is killing and white uniforms.

DANTE - All right, so even if independent contractors are working on the Death Star, why are you uneasy with its destruction?
RANDAL - All those innocent contractors hired to do a job were killed- casualties of a war they had nothing to do with. (notices Dante's confusion) All right, look-you're a roofer, and some juicy government contract comes your way; you got the wife and kids and the two-story in suburbia-this is a government contract, which means all sorts of benefits. All of a sudden these left-wing militants blast you with lasers and wipe out everyone within a three-mile radius. You didn't ask for that. You have no personal politics. You're just trying to scrape out a living.
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now i gotta get to school!

 

Do you think the Emperor would have been nice and let the afternoon shift go home early?
He did know the Rebels were coming.

Or maybe it was a long weekend and everyone was on vacation. That was why the Rebels attacked then. They thought Vader and the Emperor would be sitting around the pool having a Bud.

 

Well having worked as a contract employee before (and as a temp) I can tell you that you are fodder anyways.

So everyone there knew that they could be let go with no warning at anytime... and heck with Vader as your supervisor? They probably had 3 or 4 people drop dead from choking at the water cooler every hour or so.

They knew what they were getting into and its no good to go complaining now that you got blown up on the job.

 

LOL
Here is another part of the conversation:

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BLUE-COLLAR MAN - Well, I'm a contractor myself. I'm a roofer...Dunn and Reddy Home Improvements. And speaking as a roofer, I can say that a roofer's personal politics come heavily into play when choosing jobs.

RANDAL - Like when?

BLUE-COLLAR MAN - Three months ago I was offered a job up in the hills. A beautiful house with tons of property. It was a simple reshingling job, but I was told that if it was finished within a day, my price would be doubled. Then I realized whose house it was.

DANTE - Whose house was it?

BLUE-COLLAR MAN - Dominick Bambino's.

RANDAL - "Babyface" Bambino? The gangster?

BLUE-COLLAR MAN - The same. The money was right, but the risk was too big. I knew who he was, and based on that, I passed the job on to a friend of mine.

DANTE - Based on personal politics.

BLUE-COLLAR MAN - Right. And that week, the Foresci family put a hit on Babyface's house. My friend was shot and killed. He wasn't even finished shingling.

RANDAL - No way!

BLUE-COLLAR MAN - I'm alive because I knew there were risks involved taking on that particular client. My friend wasn't so lucky. You know, any contractor willing to work on that Death Star knew the risks. If they were killed, it was their own fault. A roofer listens to this... (taps his heart) not his wallet.

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That basically tells it all. I fully agree with the Blue-Collar Man!

 

Ah - but was the Empire using contract labour, or was it slave labour? I distinctly recall in the X-Wing game, a couple ships full of Wookie slaves who were being carted out to assist in the building of the Death Star.

 

Slave labour, temp work, contract work... all the same...

 

So true

 

How is it the same? They didn't choose the job. In most cases, their only other route would be to attempt an escape and risk their lives.

 

Well obviously I've got my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.

A true slave is not what anyone would want to be, nor should be.

My comparison was more from the other side, where temps and contract workers are treated more like disposable chattel as opposed to a valued employee.

I was keeping my comments in line with the original comments in this thread which were lighthearted and ironic.