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Reading your Clones review, you ask where do little Jedi come from? Well, I think it’s the same principle as the priesthood.
Comment by Mark — Friday, June 3, 2024 @ 10:17 pm
Hayes isn’t the only one with similar toughts
http://www.flin.demon.co.uk/swars.htm
http://belladonna.org/Karen/politicsofstarwars.html
Comment by Benito Guajardo — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 1:21 am
Mark,
This I understand. My point was that in IV-VI we are told that “the Force is strong in families” indicating, as was clearly the case with Anakin with Luke and Leia, that a parent strong in the Force could have children strong in the Force.
However, if all the Jedi aren’t allowed to have children, it would seem to make it more difficult over time to find people sufficiently strong in the Force to be Jedi.
Hence my qualm.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 9:14 am
Actually, not to pick nits, but most of the bad guys wore white (the stormtroopers). This has always bothered me, as if something inside me thinks they should be wearing ecrew or something.
Could it still be a form of federalism (democracy) if the Senators are appointed by the governments of their own planets, rather than appointed from the top down? In that case, though the affairs of the individual planets may not be democratically managed, the affairs of the Republic (a representative democracy, not a true democracy) were (i.e. voted on democratically in the Senate). An imperfect analogy, I grant you (analogies, by definition, are), but remember that our U.S. Senators were originally supposed to be elected by the state legislatures, not the public.
This post constitutes the sum lifetime total of time and effort allotted to me for the contemplation and expression of the politics of Star Wars.
Comment by Scott Gosnell — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 9:48 am
Of course, in the case of Naboo (again, what a name), and the only one where we have any information, th Queem appointed Padme to be Senator (although there was some talk of the Queen being elected, I think). Most odd in any event.
The writing/thought issue aside (which is the real problem) the funny thing in terms of Lucas is that in III he makes a big deal about the death of democracy and protecting democracy, but there isn’t much actual democracy on display.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 10:04 am
And, technically, a system could be federal in arrangment, and not actually democratic.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 10:06 am
My sister thinks that the Jedi and the whole saga are more representative of religion than politics. Having never seen any of the new trilogy I can’t personally comment. However, after hearing your “glowing” reviews, I really have even less desire to see them than I did before.
Comment by Jan — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 10:36 am
Politcs is devoid of ethics, especially in America.
Or what’s left of it.
Comment by Sarge — Saturday, June 4, 2024 @ 12:25 pm
As to the standing army…. Could It be that each system is responsible for its own defense and armed forces (Ie. Naboo and the Trade Federation in Episode I). I think it is better to think of the republic as a confederacy or EU type organization than a federal system.
Comment by Brett — Sunday, June 5, 2024 @ 7:30 am
One would think, but if that were the case, where were said militaries during III when Grevious’ droid army was attacking? Where were they in IV-VI during the rebellion? Why did Obi-Wan need the clones in II or, for that matter, why did Palpatine need them in III+? He was the duly elected Chancellor and then duly crowned Emperor, and therefore should have been able to gather such forces unto himself.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Sunday, June 5, 2024 @ 7:37 am
This brings back fond recollections of my geeky past, when in high school we used to argue forcefully (sic) about things such as whether the Starship Enterprise could beat the Battlestar Galactica in a fair fight.
I find very little entertainment value in discussing a government system described in a screenplay, especially in scripts that are as badly written as the Star Wars scripts. You will inevitably find yourself injecting far more meaning into the story than the author(s) brought to the job.
My high school friends and I still argue about things like this from time to time, but nowadays we concentrate on the ideas put forth in books that have gone to the trouble of developing an idea with some degree of consistency. Our current favourite is The Culture from Ian Banks’ books.
Comment by Steve — Sunday, June 5, 2024 @ 11:53 am
Does This Make Me a Nerd?
Mrs. Director and I tried to figure out the politics over cocktails afterwards, but as Poliblog noted, they just don’t make sense.
Trackback by The Window Manager — Sunday, June 5, 2024 @ 3:05 pm
[…] ics
By Dr. Steven Taylor @ 6:38 pm
Professor Bainbridge joins in the fun over the interstellar politics of the SW universe. (non-scifi geeks can move along, this isn’t the post you […]
Pingback by PoliBlog: Politics is the Master Science » More Star Wars Politics — Wednesday, June 8, 2024 @ 6:40 pm