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LibertyOrDeath1776
11-27-2011, 10:40 AM
I was watching Star Wars Revenge of the Sith the other night when one of the most memorable quotes came up. As Palpatine is telling the Galactic Senate that the Jedi attempted to assassinate him and how he was going to consolidate the power of the Galactic Senate for safety and security and become Supreme Chancellor Palpatine, essentially a dictator, he received enthusiastic applause from the Senate to which Padme replies "So this is how liberty dies, with thunderous applause".

It got me thinking about all the references to modern politics this movie has been used in. Calling Bush and then Obama the equivalent of Palpatine. When one looks closer at this movie however it is clear that Palpatine is playing from both sides, the empire and the separatists and using both in order to make himself dictator of the galaxy.

When one applies this to modern politics it is clear that Palpatine represents both the Republicans and the Democrats. He is the machine that drives the power behind both sides. Today the Jedi would be represented by those who are unwilling to sacrifice liberty for safety, namely the libertarians and Ron Paul. The Jedi are pure of heart and spirit and are not willing to compromise those ideals for anything. The political machine that is both the Democrats and Republicans are willing to say and do anything in order to attain power and their acolytes in both parties cheer them on in partisan politics much the same way that those who sided with the separatists or the empire did regardless of how much liberty must be sacrificed for 'the cause'.

Perfectly willing to give up their liberty for security based on Palpatines lies that the Jedi are a threat to the stability of the Galactic Senate the Senators are all to happy to give up their Republic for the idea that they will be secure. This story has played out over and over throughout history and has led to the destruction of entire civilizations. We as Americans could learn a thing or two from the Jedi when watching this movie. Anytime you are willing to sacrifice your principles to a group, a political party, or a president you have already begun your journey to the dark side. Upon walking down that path all that awaits one at the end is war, slavery, fear, and repression. The dark side offers no hope, no liberty, and no honor.

libertyfanatic
11-27-2011, 10:42 AM
http://officespam.chattablogs.com/archives/Ron-Paul-Jedi-of-Republic-thumb.jpg

ShaneEnochs
11-27-2011, 10:59 AM
We've had an empire way before Bush. This started after World War II.

LEK
11-27-2011, 11:27 AM
My kids are cheering your analogy...

Kimmie
11-27-2011, 12:41 PM
i really enjoy reading your analogy. It makes sense to me. I wonder why it is so hard for some people to see this especially those close to us.

jeremiahj13
11-27-2011, 03:32 PM
I love this! I too believed it in my heart and did not know how to word it :) The republicans are like the jedi when they take their orders from Palpatine, they think they are fighting for "liberty" but in the end, they are the same as the big government democrats. A fight for the republicans in inevitably a fight for big government.

Todd
11-27-2011, 03:54 PM
I was watching Star Wars Revenge of the Sith the other night when one of the most memorable quotes came up.

There's a memorable quote in one of the prequels?:confused:

:D

Lord Xar
11-27-2011, 03:58 PM
Wouldn't be a bad idea to create a simple video with some dramatic voice overlay to drives these points home, while playing out the clips as you outlined them.

KingRobbStark
11-27-2011, 04:01 PM
Wow nice. +rep

kr1963
11-27-2011, 05:10 PM
The moment I watched Episodes I-III AND I watched the Matrix, I INSTANTLY thought that these movies are metaphors for our times.

How Evil works

And as a leader, a person has to be able to CONFRONT & HANDLE EVIL. If you can’t you should NOT be in that position of leadership. Otherwise you actions are complicit & inadvertently condone the crime. often it looks like more than just a few people in history have not do this. And as a result, evil stepped in & got a hold of people it never should have. But how does this happen?

Let me share some personal experiences: My father was a Professor at a state university. His 2nd wife was a Sociology student there & became a Social Worker, (eventually a Professor of Social Work as well) & ended up working for County Social Services in several locations within the state.

At one time living in rural part of the state it became known that she was a social worker, a SAFE person to talk to & someone who could help kids legally. More than once we would get knocks on the door in the middle of the night with young girls asking for help & shelter. It turned out that a few family members were abusing their teenager daughters in some way shape or form.

She would also have to deal with taking kids out of abusive homes. And sometimes she would have to interview with the children & teenagers. Inevitably I can imagine that emotionally it became a bit much for her. Sometimes after a few beers she would just unload all the emotional garbage she had to deal with, giving all the graphic details a person does NOT want to hear. Thinking about again now, I cannot help but cry.

It always turned out that all the people around the teenagers & kids SAW stuff BUT the person committing the crimes was a TRUSTED LOVED ONE. A Dad, an Uncle, A brother, a stepdad etc. So they either were slow on the trigger OR completely failed on the trigger. At first I would think, “What are these people thinking? I know what I would do!” But then I learned about what happens socially.

One time, a neighborhood father found out that his daughter ran to our house to get help. He tried to call they cops & accuse my Dad of doing stuff to her. The entire neighborhood blew up because no one believed it & they started to believe HIM about my family.

It was amazing to see how this guy tried to turn this all around. I mean wait a minute here: This was the guy who was EVIL, not my family! That was a lesson learned & actually just the tip of the iceberg with regards to just how evil works.

What really makes people like so hard to spot & handle is that they have gotten into positions of trust. They are often authority figures. And they are so COVERT that even if you spot the EVIL chances are no one is going to believe you.

Usually they are also great deceivers. They twist the truth to suit their game. If you are lucky enough to get the death blow with the first strike great but if you only wound them the game becomes GETTING YOU. And now instead of being the hero YOU have something to lose. They threaten everything you have. And THAT is exactly how EVIL works.

On the upside, defeating it does always beget you a great reward (& I don’t mean monetarily). BUT confronting it is always a RISK, always. You can end up losing everything you own, every person you love & everything you have ever worked for, your own reputation. Keep that in mind as you go forward in life & extrapolate this from a personal-familial basis towards a cultural-sociological basis.

EVIL is only about 2% of population acting like the remaining 98%. The really insane ones are the ones who are costly calculating how to covertly get control of things all the while shaking your hand & smiling. The people in the mental hospitals are the VICTIMS of the truly psychotic, the ones who are constantly calculating on how to destroy all that is good. They are always cowards. They lie & twist pervert the truth, (remember how in Episode III Palpatine tells Anakin how the Jedi have a "limited" idea of truth & are suppressing him!).

Additionally, You spot evil not with witch hunts but looking at the PRODUCTS of the people are around us:

1) What are a person's intentions vs what are their products?
2) Is the "environment" the person "produces" getting better or worse? Safer or more dangerous? Are people flourishing or suffering? Are they healthy or sick? Are they happy or worried?

Look how the Government says we are going to have a WAR ON (fill in the blank: cancer, inflation, drugs, terror etc). The situations NEVER get better. THe answer is always WE HAVE NOT THROWN ENOUGH MONEY AT IT YET. With the logic of if we THROW MORE MONEY AT IT WILL WE SOLVE IT. Wrong.

And the money goes to who? ALWAYS to people who have a VESTED INTEREST in making sure the PROBLEM NEVER gets solved & hence are always the recipient of those said funds. And then they always justify away the failure. They tell you the opposite of the truth. And the interesting thing is that the light of truth is the one thing that EVIL cannot stand. So keep shining the light...my 2 cents.