Jonathan V. Last wrote a fascinating article called, “The Case for the Empire.” Last is the online editor for the The Weekly Standard and a blogger at Galley Slaves.
[Note: I didn't realize the article was written in 2002. I wondered why it was spoiler-free.]
I’d forgotten how much I enjoyed Sci-Fi speculation, analysis, and present-day analogies. Last turns the “Star Wars” morality play on its head, arguing that the Empire, not the Republic or the Rebel Alliance, is the best way to run a galaxy. He acknowledges that it’s a difficult case to make, given the Empire-in-black theme and apparently murderous activities of Darth Vader and his “Dark Side” minions. His argument is convincing, though.
At the beginning of the saga in 1977, we see a young Luke Skywalker, restless on his uncle’s farm, suddenly thrown into a galactic adventure. Episodes I-III (which I didn’t see) provide the back story, which is where Last begins. He discusses the ineffectiveness of the Senate and compares the Republic itself to our own ineffectual United Nations. The only “armed” protectors of the galaxy, run by the Republic, are Jedi Knights, whose power (The Force) is inherited. Separatists, who “seem genuinely to want to make a fresh start with a government that isn’t bloated and dysfunctional,” want to break away from the Republic and control their own destinies. Sound familiar?
Darth Vader’s “evil” Empire seizes control of the galaxy some time between “Attack of the Clones” and the 1977 movie. Last writes:
Lucas wants the Empire to stand for evil, so he tells us that the Emperor and Darth Vader have gone over to the Dark Side and dresses them in black.But look closer. When Palpatine is still a senator, he says, “The Republic is not what it once was. The Senate is full of greedy, squabbling delegates. There is no interest in the common good.” At one point he laments that “the bureaucrats are in charge now.” [Sound familiar?]….Make no mistake, as emperor, Palpatine is a dictator–but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet. It’s a dictatorship people can do business with. They collect taxes and patrol the skies. They try to stop organized crime (in the form of the smuggling rings run by the Hutts). The Empire has virtually no effect on the daily life of the average, law-abiding citizen.
Also, unlike the divine-right Jedi, the Empire is a meritocracy. The Empire runs academies throughout the galaxy (Han Solo begins his career at an Imperial academy), and those who show promise are promoted, often rapidly.
Last presents evidence that the Empire isn’t the evil beast it’s made out to be, while acknowledging that it certainly appears so. For example, when the Empire destroyed Princess Leia’s planet, I remember gasping at the sight of it blowing up (80s-era special effects weren’t bad). A whole planet vaporized. Everyone on it, including those you loved, gone in an instant. But Leia was a rebel, liar, and lawbreaker who hid other rebels. And she was a spy.
About all the other killings, Last says, “Whatever the case, the important thing to recognize is that the Empire is not committing random acts of terror. It is engaged in a fight for the survival of its regime against a violent group of rebels who are committed to its destruction.” Good stuff.
After the Jedi prevail and the Empire is crushed, the galaxy is back to square one: Run by a disparate group of regional authorities who answer to no one. At least under Darth Vader, they had to answer to him (or suffer unpleasant consequences). Like it or not, he provided order and stability.
Last concludes with perhaps an unintentional comparison to present-day politicians who fancy themselves rebels — Democrats (the way I see it, anyway):
In all of the time we spend observing the Rebel Alliance, we never hear of their governing strategy or their plans for a post-Imperial universe…Their victory over the Empire doesn’t liberate the galaxy–it turns the galaxy into Somalia writ large: dominated by local warlords who are answerable to no one.
Isn’t order preferable to chaos even when scores of people (rebels) are killed in the name of “Empire?” The rule-of-law concept has proven to be liberating and better than any other system of government. Agree or disagree?
I could tell Last was really into writing this article, which made it all the more fun to read. Does that make me a Sci-Fi nerd? I can live with that. 
Addendum: SPOILER ALERT! John Podhoretz hates the new movie. Very funny. But if you plan on seeing the movie, DON’T READ HIS ARTICLE.
Totally Unrelated Update: For someone on hiatus, Andrew Sullivan sure gets a lot of traffic. 
He and I had a brief e-mail exchange a few months ago on the issue of homosexual “marriage.” We’re both firmly fixed in our respective positions, but I appreciated the dialogue.
Read Star Wars Memories.
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“For example, when the Empire destroyed Princess Leia’s planet, I remember gasping at the sight it blowing up. A whole planet vaporized. But Leia was a liar and a rebel, a lawbreaker who hid other rebels. And she was a spy.”
Is alderaan then fallujah?
That’s quite an eye-opening analogy! I’ll have to read more of this guy who seems to possess the literary-force.
I can’t argue that the Republic was top-heavy, and the Empire was much more efficient. Lucas wrote it that way – the thing was supposed to collapse under its own weight, aided by Palpatine. You do have to realize, though, the the “Sepratist movement” was actually controlled behind the scenes by Palpatine (his deputy ran it) – this is a fabricated conflict if there ever was one – Palpatine used the sepratists to justify him getting the powers he wanted. Chances are, if Palpatine had not existed, those systems wouldn’t have wanted to break away. Palpatine WANTED the Jedi stretched to the breaking point, so he could get rid of them.
Also, the Extended Universe helps Last’s case out, at least in regards to what happens after the Empire. Authors have basically stated that the new Republic was no where near as effective – planets were pretty much on their own, with bits of assistance from the Republic when it could spare it. The Empire had several loyalist stations out there, and actually took over the capital at least once. Also, some other race invaded the galaxy later, and the Republic has in the Extended Universe never had a chance to get on its feet.
I can’t see the Empire as good. However, they were much more effecient in running things.
This is a good piece that indeed does show the decline of the Republic, as well as the arrogance that arose within the Jedi. However the case that the solution to these ills is not the creation of an Empire.
Bigger systems created to solve problems never work. The only real options, the only moral solutions were either 1) return the Republic to the original concept and precepts or 2) dissolve the Republic entirely and allow individual planets to exercise their sovereignty and establish a new order.
Using the excuse that things are broken and the only answer is bigger and more powerful government is foolish in both science fiction and real life.
I wrote a little piece expressing this in greater detail
Civics Lessons in Star Wars
http://www.southernnationalist.org/elcid/2005/05/civics-lessons-in-star-wars.htm
I remember when Lucas was about to release Episode I he talked (as if with historical authority) about the declines of republics into dictatorships. It’s everywhere in history really.
Even though Lucas didn’t use this example, his original 3 films clearly took cues from the decline of the Weimar Republic into the Hitler/Nazi dictatorship – and the dark side of that decline (the original was rife with WWII style decor & combat – remember the fighter scenes & the Millenium Falcon defending itself?).
There are more examples like the French to Napoleon, Roman Republic into the Roman Empire and plenty more. What Lucas has done with Star Wars is given it a more tragic tale and made it seem like it’s understandable.
In a way, I think that is dangerous because the Empire is supposed to be evil. Grand Moff Tarkin was supposed to be a power hungry Imperial crony. Admiral Ozzel and Admiral Piet were supposed to be ambitious officers eager for command and show off. Yes, in a way it was a meritocracy – but more like…who could merit the favor of Vader or Palpatine – who could brown-nose the best?
The best example of this kind of republic to evil empire is the Weimar Republic to the Third Reich (that’s also where Lucas got “stormtroopers” [a Hitler propoganda name]). Grand Moff Tarkin is similar to Adolf Eichmann or Herman Goering – party-members who became leaders through Hitler/the Emperor.
I think in Lucas’s attempt to complete a space fairy tale, to keep it entertaining, and to make it palatable without digressing or reflecting too much of historical reality, a lot of us lose the perspective that the Evil Empire is akin to the Evil Nazi Third Reich.
That said – I still love the fantastical story. Loved the movies, the novels, and comics. I think the article is fascinating and a good read. Unfortunately, I also think a lot of others will dismiss it…unless it was written by Dave Barry or Kurt Vonne-something…
I have just read Jonathan Last’s essay on “The Empire.” It has got to be a joke or parody of some kind. Considering that this originated at The Weekly Standard, one has to wonder if this is half-serious.
Right On, El Cid! The solutions to the evils of Empire is not more Empire.
Well, as I interperet the movies and books, Palpatine did manipulate the events, but all the elements were there.
If the Republic wasn’t corrupt and dysfunctional, he never could have exploited it.
And actus, Hiroshima is a better parralled to Alderaan.
Don’t take it so seriously, Mark. Can’t we have some fun in the blogosphere once in awhile?
The same things Mr. Last says about the Empire and the rebels can be said about the British and the American colonists. Would that change the theory?
But you’re right, it shouldn’t be taken so seriously. It’s fascinating as a thought experiment… mental gymnastics, if you will. That’s fun.
No, the Empire is a communist dictatorship that limits democracy and the free market.
The Republic was based upon democratic representation and competitive capitalism (the merchantile guild, etc.)
I vote the good side of the force!
Interesting in the mental gymnastics, sure.
However, the underlying logic is the same as saying the murder of 6 million Jews was OK because Hitler kept the trains running on time.
Order is not the ultimate good and, in fact, has been the rallying cry of many a tyrant.
I personally like Arthur Chrenkoff’s take on it.
http://chrenkoff.blogspot.com/2005/05/open-letter-to-george-lucas.html
Gee,
Does this logic apply to the American Revolution against the British? Sounds like LaShawn might have been a redcoat! Gasp!
Seriously… it’s all a matter of perspective… rebels always see themselves as trying to overthrow tyranny, whereas the controlling government sees rebels as terrorists…
not to say it’s all relative… each side can be judged according to a moral framework, and based on that framework, one can assign one side as “good” and the other “bad”… but from their own points of view, each side always sees themselves as the “good guys”.
La Shawn:
Check out a book called Stardust and Ashes, by Stephen May. It is an excellent book about science fiction from a Christian perspective.
Yes Miss Barber, you are a nerd. Welcome to the club.
jab, Tony,
The American revolution was a seperatist movement. It was not an attempt to overthrow the entire Brittish empire. And much of the motivation was over taxation and trade. Sound like the separatists in the new trilogy…
I, uh, think I, uh, was making a loose connection… perhaps I should’ve written 2,000 words?
“For example, when the Empire destroyed Princess Leia’s planet, I remember gasping at the sight it blowing up. A whole planet vaporized. But Leia was a liar and a rebel, a lawbreaker who hid other rebels. And she was a spy.â€
She was a spy, for the rebels… fighting evil can sometimes justify actions that
Oh, never mind. I’m going to return to blogging and commenting in a more navel-gazing manner from the basement of the science building.
There’s a fantasy series by Glen Cook about a mercenary company during one of these “Light vs. Dark” battles.
At one point, the mercenaries are talking to a peasant, who says she prefers the empire run by the Evil Sorceress, because she’s just going to be a serf anyways, and when the empire runs things, things are more orderly, and they keep the local aristocrats in line. When the aristocrats are in charge, they’re always fighting with each other, and they abuse their own people.
That’s more or less arguing that a well-run dictatorship is better then feudalism, for the peasants…
On the other hand, in Star Wars, he’s “Lord Vader” but also the Republic is not-necessarily a democracy at the planetary level: Its Queen Amidala after all…
So its not really clear that the Republic was all that great either. One of the reasons Anakin turns to the dark side was because he wasn’t allowed to marry? What’s up with that?
The Empire is more efficient argument has been made in popular SF before.
Who can forget the classic Star Trek episode “Patterns of Force” in which one of Earth’s greatest historians sets up a Nazi state on the planet Ekos, under the argument that it was “the most efficient state Earth ever knew.”
A logical argument that Spock even agrees with, saying that war torn, crippled nation rose in a few short years to be one step from global domination.
Although I don’t think there were any Aushwitzes or Treblinkas in the Galactic Empire.
No, Tony, you could just think for a moment rather than try to get a gotcha.
There are plenty of revolutions that had the goal of total overthrow. Most actually.
Well, we know for sure that teh empire would have its columnists and mandarins supporting whatever imperial horrors they are creating. Alderaan be damned.
“Although I don’t think there were any Aushwitzes or Treblinkas in the Galactic Empire. ”
Don’t be so sure. The novelizations make clear that the Empire is a racist state that only regards humans as sentient beings. The whole reason that Chewbacca hangs out with Solo is that Solo freed him from a Wookie slave camp.
I think this is one of the worstI mean BEST things I’ve read
lately! Plus I hatelove love love Star
Wars. Plus, I wanted to try out the strike thing
on the HTML and you all seem so tolerant here!
I really like your smileys!
I think this is one of the worstI mean BEST things I’ve read
lately! Plus I hatelove love love Star
Wars. Plus, I wanted to try out the strike thing
on the HTML and you all seem so tolerant here!
I really like your smileys!
All those refusing to have fun with this are full of bantha poo doo.
Chris? I think you mean that those refusing to have fun are full of bantha fodder.
SCSIwuzzy,
I’ve seen the error of my ways. I bow before your brilliance. Please tell me what to think from now on because I’m not worthy of independent thought. I will now present every idea or comment to you for approval for literal interpretation and application before I post anything, anywhere.
Please let me know the specific details of how I can do this but make certain that they’re clear and simple. I doubt I can understand anything above a 2nd grade level. Have mercy on me in your guardianship of my mind.
Thank you.
I’m afraid I only got as far as “Palpatine is a dictator–but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet.” I’m afraid it rather left the humour zone for me at that point. More than 1000 people “disappeared” under Pinochet’s regime.
Touchy, Touchy, Tony. Now I’m glad I didn’t go into the difference between a redcoat and a torry
There is a good book about why Empire is good and why we are an Empire. It’s called Colossus, the Price of America’s Empire by Niall Ferguson. I’ve just started it, and I like it already. My husband’s read a lot of it as part of his current military school. They just discussed it yesterday—interesting timing with your post!
Regarding the Rebels as American Revolutionaries, I think what truly separates “Rebels” from “Revolutionaires” is that rebels tend to fight against something, while revolutionaries are fighting for something.
The American Revolutionaries were fighting _for_ a a new and truly revolutionary form of government, and for principles expounded upon at great length by political writers like Madison, Hamilton etc.
The Star Wars Rebels seem to be fighting _against_ the Empire because, well, Empires are bad. They are strong, they wear black and their leaders are scary looking. In the early films (iv-vi) they seem to be fighting to restore the Republic, but they never really articulate any political principles. At any rate, the prequels expose the Republic as a dysfunctional UN-like body rife with corruption and incapable of protecting its own members from agression (one of the principal duties of any government).
The results of defeating an Empire depend greatly upon the political nature of the opposition. In in U.S., revolutionaries defeated the British Empire and established a nation that rose to be one of the strongest and most liberal in history. In much of Africa by contrast, the British Empire was driven out by rebels and you ended up with places like Zimbabwe, which would probably be in much better shape had it remained a colony for at least a few more decades.
“I’m afraid I only got as far as “Palpatine is a dictator–but a relatively benign one, like Pinochet.†I’m afraid it rather left the humour zone for me at that point. More than 1000 people “disappeared†under Pinochet’s regime.”
Richard, the key word is “relatively”. Considering the records of communists despots of the time he was a piker (and at the time, Pinochet was considered the only alternative to communist despotism). 1,000 deaths is about 2 and a half days work for Pol Pot and his gang, for example.
And I don’t see Palpatine as being quite that benign; Pinochet, after all, not only left his country in very good economic shape, he also relenquished power and re-established democracy in time. I don’t think Palpatine was headed down that path.
I’m more interested in the comparison of the left to the Skywalkers when they are with the REpublic-
Luke always impressed us a whiny and annoying. Anakin isn’t much better. Anakin is all about him.
Most importantly, logic is a bad thing for those guys= “Luke, empty your mind of all thought” is pretty much a leftist mantra.
A synonym for a mind emptied of all thought is thoughtless stupidity.
There was one advantage to the Empire, in my view. It toppled the top-heavy Republic and allowed something more efficient to take its place. This was probably better for all concerned than the Old Republic at the time of its fall.
Not that it justifies the Empire, but I think the Empire woke enough people up to how bad stuff was in general.
“A synonym for a mind emptied of all thought is thoughtless stupidity. ”
Or something akin to enlightenment.
I disagree with the “Empire” being ruled by nobody.
Clearly the Senior Officer of the Imperial Fleet
would move to bring order to the immediate
region in which he was deployed — particularly
in a target rich environment of rebel
cruisers located at point blank range from his guns.
After that? Alea iacta est — oh, and the
rebellion would be as much dust at the Death Star II
This isn’t original with me, but the criticism that the Jedi allowed the Sith to take over due to the Knights’ pathetic moral relativism is one that has devastating consequences for Lucas’s anti-Bush bias.
It is, of course, the same problem that always bedevils moral relativism, namely the inability to make non-hypocritical or non-irrelevantly emotive moral criticisms. You know what I’m talking about, “There are no such things as moral absolutes, and only irredeemably evil Bushhitler lovers believe in them.”
OK, -I’m- convinced!
As has been posted elsewhere, the original trilogy succeeded precisely BECAUSE it was a non-nuanced “good vs. evil” struggle which contrasted heavily with the post-Watergate world view. In addition to the too spiffy setup and the cardboard actors, the second trilogy suffers from Lucas’s cod-New Age Easterisms about the impossibilty of making distinctions between good and evil. So, who cares?
The fact is that the Empire is indeed evil, not just because it holds the power to destroy the individual but because it gladly exercises it. BTW, the notion that Fascist, Nazi and Marxist (i.e. all totalitarian collectivist governments) regimes are more “efficient” is idiotic. The only “efficiency” they show is in mass murder. In all important civil and scientific matters, they are parasitic (i.e. they can only progress by allowing to scientists the freedom of inquiry that contradicts their ideology) and inefficient (”divide and conquer” was Hitler and Stalin’s motto) to the Nth degree.
“New Age Easternisms”
So far the discussion has taken for granted that the events of the films are portrayed objectively. But what if one views them as pro-Rebellion propaganda pieces, in the same vein as “Farenheit 9-11″ or “Triumph Of The Will” (say, I just remembered that the novelization of “A New Hope” opened with a quote from “The Journal of the Whills”. I know the comparison’s a stretch, but where there’s a Whill there’s a way
)? It then becomes much easier to make the case for the Empire’s benevolence. Given the propensity of some people in our modern world to accuse America of “imperialism” and “theocratic tendencies”, it’s not hard to believe there could be individuals within the Star Wars universe who might have a political axe to grind, and therefore be inclined to take statements out of context and fabricate events whole cloth in the presentation of their version of events (e.g., the films as we’ve seen them). “Palpatine lied, people died”, anyone? 
In Yoda speak… A fool of itself Newsweek did make…
I think the Taoist’s were saying that you are what you do. Yoda might put it this way,
“Do good or Do not do good, there is no choice!”
I’m trying to avoid articles on this flick, but just to go on the record: This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen. Action? Boring. Dialog? Pathetic. Lucas’s politics? Hamfisted. Thankfully, my company paid for my ticket (as a teambuilding thing), so I didn’t waste any money.
The best thing about the whole deal was seeing the preview for the first (hopefully of seven!) Narnia movies.
And no doubt that GEORGE SOROS wants to be the emperor he is as bad as they get.
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