Lit Books Comics When Should Jedi Intervene?

The Jedi keep the peace of the Galaxy and resolve disputes and defend people, we all know that is the idea. But when should Jedi get involved?

When they see injustice you might say, but what is injustice? Slavery is bad, but what about unpaid prison labour?

Should the invade a planet and overthrow the government because they don't like some of it's policies?

Should they intervene only if asked by the ruler of the world? Like the battle Galidraan? of https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Battle_of_Galidraan

Should the Jedi submit to the government of the galaxy and let it decide? Like the did in the PT era.

Or should they stay neutral in all conflicts? Like Huk War? the https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Huk_War

Though for those who think the latter might be correct, consider this quote: "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality." attributed to Desmond Tutu.

 

Upon rewatching the Phantom Menace, it seems that the Jedi Council supported Naboo without the consent of the senate since the senate was in dead lock at the time. It's unclear to me if Valorum may have given the go ahead.

I don't think Jedi shouldn't intervene on matters, but I do think Jedi shouldn't be affiliated with governmental establishments. It's a difficult question to answer because we're dealing with a range of ethical questions. I think they should be mediators and councillors, yes but to what extent, I don't know.

 

Valorum did indeed send them without senate approval. I think it is mentioned in the opening crawl?

Ok, so you think the Jedi should answer only to themselves and only enter when invited?

yes there are a lot of questions why I think it is worth it's own thread not derailing the violence thread.

 

yeah Jedi without accountability is kinda horrifying.

Like superheroes without accountability

one goes Rogue and then BOOM all goes downhill

 

Can't imagine Star Wars would ever tell that story.

This is a joke. I know Darth Vader exists.

 

Nooooooo of course not

not like every time that happens a evil empire rises and chaos and war happens

what is this a Star Wars

 

You don't even need one to go Rogue. If the Jedi have no accountability they can do what ever they want, government doesn't like? Get couped. They would do what ever they wanted. Still righteous, but self righteous.

 

Sorry, I should've been clearer. I was referring to the moment when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are accompanying Queen Amidala to Naboo in order to confront the Trade Federation. The Jedi Council wants them to tag along to draw out Darth Maul. That decision seems to have occurred without approval from the senate, considering it happened during the vote of no confidence against Valorum.

After some more thought, I'm wondering if a more decentralised Jedi culture would be more beneficial. One that sort of caters to the needs of their particular systems, or regions. I wonder if the High Republic touches on that aspect. As to when they should intervene: I can't get a good answer on that. Do they really have more responsibility than the average galactic citizen against atrocities, and injustice? Should Jedi just strive to deescalate and only step in to protect the weak? Any which way you go, there are countless what-ifs and moral dilemmas. Perhaps the idea of Jedi is inherently flawed.

 

Based on the fact that the Republic made a treaty not to interfere with Mandalore ~100 years before the prequels, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's mission to Mandalore was presumably similarly non-sanctioned.

 

Sounds like what the jedi did in Tales of the Jedi.

I wouldn't say it's flawed, just hard to do.

 

A decentralized Jedi culture is basically what we had in the NJO, right? And then the New Republic government was like "oh no, you're going rogue, you're not accountable, you're provoking the Yuuzhan Vong".

If the idea of Jedi is inherently flawed, if they can't be trusted to uphold peace and justice, well then uhhh...the only solution is what Palpatine did...

 

The Jedi should not claim to serve the Galactic Senate or the Supreme Chancellor, I know that much. They are so many times they sit around because they don't have Senate approval. The Jedi should only ally with the Galactic Republic when it makes sense for them, not out of obligation or as the expectation.
Jedi should oppose slavery on paper and in practice. And yes, that extends to prison labor.
Certain violent conflicts they should probably stay neutral on. It wouldn't make sense for them to take a side on every war.

 

So they have no authority in the government and might attack them? While also letting people die? That sounds like a great way to get the galaxy to hate them.

Should the Jedi run the Republic? After all they are more moral than the senate.

 

I think the Jedi should be wary of vigilantism and they can do more good by cooperating with the republic than working against it or ignoring it.
At the same time there is merit to the idea that a certain degree of flexibility can make them, and the republic stronger overall.

 

The Jedi should intervene as they see fit, for the side of good.

The question is… HOW should they intervene?

Should the Jedi be a centralized organization, or just a bunch of individuals?

If centralized, should it be affiliated with the galactic government? What if there’s more than one galactic power? Or when the government is not just?

If there’s no government accountability, would that still be a problem if they were pacifist interventionists?

 

How do they define good? Also WHO defines good?

This is an interesting question, if too lose then things would go wrong, rouge jedi could become far to common, but if too centralised then that create's it's own problems

This is an interesting question, we do see the jedi deal with this in legends, somewhat. Under the Pias Dia the Jedi withdraw in protest, (which does nothing to stop the government). But we haven't seen them deal with multiple galactic governments. In TotJ, the jedi would deal with planetary governments on a case by case basis.

No, because if the government (or whoever) doesn't like them they can just kill them, problem solved.

 

I also think the Jedi should remain politically active, and not just defend any galactic republic that exists, but also be advocates pushing for reforms. Imagine if all the Jedi had been pushing the Senate in the same way Padme and Mon Mothma were. But to do that, they can’t be regarded as part of the judicial branch or law enforcement.

 

So like a corporation? With lobbyists?

 

Were MLK and Gandhi “corporations with lobbyists”?

 

They weren't going around their nations or the world trying to stop wars or serving governments.

They were opposed to the government.

 

yes, like corporations with lobbists. That isn't an insult. If the jedi were a freelance, protector, negotiators, conflict de- escalators, it might help them by allowing them to do good, work with government but also keep independence and influence it.

 

I think the Jedi should interfere in all the situations of injustice that they find, not beholden to any goverment's wishes or restrictions, because that way it would be like the goverment dictating universal morality, which i consider to be borderline tyrannical, the Jedi should have the freedom to stop slavery, for instance, regardless of wether it's on Hutt Space or Republic Space.

In taking this approach, of course, the Jedi wouldn't be "part" of the Republic anymore, without authority in the chain of command (unless specified by a mission) or politically, otherwise they would be hypocrites, but they can still be the guardians of peace and justice of the Republic from outside of it, and be "hired" for diplomatic missions, escorts and so on (but not ordered to take part on those missions, that way the Jedi aren't forced to back up a corrupt situation).

Jedi should be able to intervene when they see labour abuse, yes.

It depends on the gravity of it's policies they don't like, and what they do with the goverment later: If the policies they disagree with are simply opposed to their political views, as in, they don't like them because they disagree, then no, it would be wrong to overthrow a goverment because you think it's political afilliations are bad, at least from the outside, Jedi should be impartial and judge morality, not political ideas, if the policies are tyrannical, like killing opposition, send people to forced labor, indoctrination and warmongering, then the Jedi should be able to intervene regardless of the goverment in question's political pull, in the ideal scenario rise up a resistance movement from the inside and defeat the tyrant, and after overthrowing the goverment they should always let the people rule, like establish a new goverment from the ground up, Jedi should never rule, that is completely opposed to their values, if possession is bad then possession of political power is the worst a Jedi can have.

That is exactly what they shouldn't do, not listen to politicians to do exactly as they order, help governors and Republic politicians when they ask help? Sure, but only if the mission is just and the politicians involved aren't corrupt and have ulterior motives, they should investigate a bit before deciding to help in certain situations (like they should have done in Galidraan).

The Jedi should always take a side unless the war in quesiton is purely political and destructive, in that case they should simply try to resolve the conflict between the two sides peacefully.

The Jedi define their own moral code, even in the known canon where they work under the Republic all the time, most of the time their values correlate to the Republic's core values, which is why initially they joined it and became it's protectors, but after so much of galactic history that has proven that the Jedi are limited when tied to the Republic, and can't properly apply their worldview to the entire galaxy because of the Republic's politics regarding Hutt Space, Outer Rim, etc. they become only effective in this "day-to-day Jedi business"in the Core Worlds (with the exceptions of the corrupt planets that have political pull), which is why they should separate politically from the Republic, if not morally from it's core values.

Keep in mind most of the Jedi's values were already built before they joined the Republic and stayed the same after the Republic was gone and a new one was formed, they follow the Force, and all that serves life and well-being for others, in that philosophical framework, them working independently as i am proposing would actually work quite well for the Galaxy.

 

So you think the Jedi should stand apart from the governments but still work with for the most part?

Investigations take time. I mean that is what the senate wanted to do in TPM.

And I guess if they overthrow a government what should happen next? Jedi work with opposition groups to form a new government?

What do you mean by a war bing "purely political and destructive" all wars are that, can you expand upon this?

The issue with the Jedi accountable to no one but themselves and no being art of any government, is that they will be seen as outsiders and people don't like outsiders getting involved. That is something they need to watch.

 

Yes they should stand apart from goverments but be friendly to them and work with them (if they are goverments the Jedi deem as "good" such as the Republic) not keep to themselves and do nothing, working together with the Republic (without pretenses of higher authority from the Jedi's part) but not be part of it is the best middle ground so that the Jedi don't lose their way in aiding a corrupt Republic or are unable to help with serious issues outside Republic space.

Yes, but those would be investigations carried out by the Jedi, who see in their best interests to see the truth of things as fast as possible, in TPM the Jedi already saw the reality of the situation but the Senate wanted to investigate because of the Trade Federation taking advantage of the bureaucracy to make time (the senate had no solid proof outside of testimonies), not because the Jedi didin't know, but of course they wouldn't investigate every plea for help, just the ones that might seem politically motivated.

Depends on the situation, either that or they leave it to the locals, if they see the situation as stable after the tyrant is dethroned, if it's a galaxy-wide conflict they would be able to help establish the new goverment but never rule themselves.

I mean it as there is not a clear aggressor or a clearly "morally right" side in the war, a war that is just two dubious factions fighting for territory (like Sith Warlords, Hutts or crime syndicates fighting) in those situations they should look to difuse both sides of the conflict so that the people don't have to suffer anymore.

Those are really different from the Republic being invaded by a Sith Empire, for instance.

That is indeed a burden they would have to deal with, it's not a perfect solution, but i see it as a much better option than them being subservient to a corrupt power or being unable to help certain planets.