Entertaining spin on the Empire in Star Wars (1 Viewer)

[Matt Krapf]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Conten...1/248ipzbt.asp
I have to say, he's got half a point. Maybe half of a few points. It's all fiction, anyway.

 

[Danny R]

Pretty humorous.

 

[MickeS]

Interesting read, actually. I never thought about the "Captain Solo" comment by Boba Fett before, for example, maybe it does refer to his former status in the Empire.

of course, the writer makes a few comments that well could lead into a political discussion here, for example his comments about "relatively benign" dictators like Augusto Pinochet. There is in theory a compelling case for the Empire, as there is for dictatorship, empire and monarchy here on earth. However, when looking at the details, there will always be a tradeoff between perceived "order and stability" and the freedom of the individual. The Empire stands for order and stability, but individual freedom is sacrificed. I'd say the Galactic Empire is more like China than the Soviet Union though, it allows some free trade and a certain degree of freedom.

/Mike

 

[Philip Hamm]

Great read!

 

[ikiru]

Very interesting read! I would have to say that I tend to agree with this guy (a small part of my childhood still cant think of Luke as anything but good).

Im suprised that this kind of view hasn't shown itself in any Kevin Smith type of movies....

-ikiru

 

[Brian Kleinke]

A very different take, and quite neat.

It is interesting to see in ATOC that the emperor actually started the rebel movement which ends up killing him.


I wonder if the empire stopped all production of battle droids, since we don't see any in EP IV-VI.

Brian

 

[ikiru]

The Empire stands for order and stability, but individual freedom is sacrificed.

Actually, within the confines of the movies, we are never told that the Empire ever restricts anyones freedom. The only people we have any exposure to are rebels (traitors) and smugglers. In the US, where we live and breathe in the name of freedom, we still will not allow people to smuggle in illegal goods or form rebel military groups.

In the Star Wars universe, people went along their day to day duties and we are never informed of any unfair taxes or hindering laws.

-ikiru

 

[Bjorn Olav Nyberg]

Im suprised that this kind of view hasn't shown itself in any Kevin Smith type of movies....

Clerks come to mind, the discussion about the civil contractors on the death star...

 

[AllanN]

I wonder if the empire stopped all production of battle droids, since we don't see any in EP IV-VI.

The Empire(The Old Senate) never made battle droids the Trade Federation did. The Senate created the Clones and where called Stormtroopers after the senate disolved and became the empire. Im assumeing that in Episode III the Clones will lay the final smack down on the trade federation battle droides and begin to take over the universe.

My $.02

 

[MickeS]

I will not go into detail about how I see the "freedom" in the United States... let's just say that I don't think it's that far removed from the Empire.
I think it's pretty obvious from the little snippets of civilian life that we've seen in the SW movies that the Empire is very restrictive when it comes to trade and everyday life. There are stormtrooper patrols on Tatooine that seem to be there only to control the population, not to work as a police force to solve crime. I would bet that they aren't just there to stop smugglers, but most likely there to control what is being expressed in the media (which we've seen very little of in SW), tax the population and to make sure that nobody expresses opinions that go against the official imperial policies.
Look at Bespin for example, as far as I can tell Lando Calrissian was now a legitimate businessman, but he didn't exactly seem thrilled to have the Empire there controlling his every move.
And the very idea of not being able to elect your ruling officials is oppressive to many people, no matter if the rulers are benign or do things for the good of the people. As flawed as the republic was, it allowed for freedom of thought and expression, something that I'm pretty sure the Galactic Empire does not encourage.

 

[RobertR]

One thing that rather annoyed me about Ep. II was all the hand-wringing about the separatist movement. Why is choosing not to be part of the Republic "evil" or "wrong"? Why should the Jedi care? This is never explained. As part of this "keep the Republic intact" concept, Lucas made a change in the purpose of the Jedi which pisses me off. In the original movie, Obi-Wan very eloquently states that the Jedi were the "guardians of peace and justice". In Ep. II, they're now the guardians of "peace and order". I don't like it.

 

[ikiru]

As flawed as the republic was, it allowed for freedom of thought and expression, something that I'm pretty sure the Galactic Empire does not encourage

How do you know that the Empire didnt encourage freedom of thought and expression? The only freedoms of thought and expressions that the Empire clearly discouraged were that of illegal smuggling and treason, which any government would discourage. We dont know if the Empire has in place a "Government Complaints Department" or not, so we cant make any judgements on whether they encouraged or discouraged criticism.
On the other hand, we dont know what the Republic stood for or not since they were not organized enough to make any decisions. In fact, it seemed like if one member of the Senate wanted to persecute its people, the only thing the Senate could do was investigate.
I think its an interesting point of view...
-ikiru

 

[Howard Williams]

A long time ago, in this very galaxy, I made a couple of feeble attempts to express what that post so eloquently stated. I posed the question, "What's so bad about the Empire?" and stated "The Empire is not evil". I have never been flamed so viciously. Not even in the Quake forums, the king of all flame centers.

There are always at least 3 sides to every story. One of them is the truth.

 

[Bill Catherall]

The Empire is evil because the music says so.

 

[Mike Broadman]

A system of government that does not include elected officials to represent its citizens is by its very nature oppressive. A government exists to serve the people, not vice versa. If a person does not have a say as to how their society can be shaped, that person is not free.

We Americans hold, or should hold, or right to vote as sacred, and for good reason. Citizens of the Empire do not have this right.

So, yes, I would consider them "evil."

 

[MickeS]

Well, like I said we haven't really been shown a a lot of what the Empire actually does to civilian life. We have seen the Imperial Stormtroopers kill innocent civilians (Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen) and we have seen the attitude towards the empire from a businessman. That's all we have to go by, and so far there isn't any evidence that they AREN'NT an oppressive dictatorship.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

US forces have killed civilians in the past, does that make the US government evil? Vader sent the Stormtroopers to Tatooine to find the droids, that's why they went to Owen's place, and that's why they were patrolling the city. There's no indication that Stormtroopers are always there keeping an eye on people, nor is there any proof that they kill people left and right for minor crimes. They needed the droids and needed to cover their tracks. What one group of Imperial officers and soldiers did should not reflect on the entire empire.

However the fact that the leaders personnally kill officers who don't meet their standards does show they are evil. I find it interesting the author uses the promotion of Piet as an example of why the Empire is good. That's a case where a guy was promoted because his senior officers were killed for failures that they weren't entirely to blame for.

 

[Mike Broadman]

"He didn't even ask me any questions."

Not evil?

 

[Jeremy Illingworth]

Not that I'm seriously suggesting that the Empire is good...

A system of government that does not include elected officials to represent its citizens is by its very nature oppressive.

Are you suggesting that all monarchies (sp?) are and always have been evil? Were there no Kings or Pharos that ruled wisely and justly?

jeremy

 

[MickeS]

He didn't say "evil", he said "oppressive". Even if the ruler is very wise and very just, there will always be those who don't agree. In a democracy like the Galactic Republic, they had a voice, and could push for change (with sometimes unfortunate results). In the Galactic Empire, everything will be decided by the Emperor, and he doesn't need to listen to anyone's advice.

/Mike