Jedi Knights: Libertarian or Socialist? ...or the Taliban?

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Most political journalists are also nerds, so it was probably only a matter of time until someone started debating the politics of Star Wars. This particular discussion started when an official with the Canadian prime minister's office sent out a press release announcing that the forthcoming national census would be optional.

* Jedi Knights Are Libertarian

The release noted that, during the previous census in 2001, 21,000 respondents listed their religion as "Jedi Knight." The official presumably pointed this out to suggest that these Canadians were protesting the personal question on the census form. Canadian blogger P.M. Jaworski did some research and found that Canada is not alone in this behavior. Jaworski concludes that Jedi Knights, by opposing the privacy intrusion of the census, are political libertarians.

According to 2001 census reports from the English-speaking world, England and Wales led the world in absolute terms, with over 390,000 (0.8%) Jedis. "The 2001 census reveals that 390,000 people across England and Wales are devoted followers of the Jedi 'faith,'" the BBC reported in 2003. England also has the distinction of having elected a Jedi Member of Parliament. Jamie Reed, then-newly-elected Labour Party MP, commented on the proposed Incitement to Religious Hatred Bill by saying, "as the first Jedi Member of this place, I look forward to the protection under the law that will be provided to me by the Bill."

Canada also lagged behind Australia, with over 70,000 (0.37%) Jedis in 2001. In May of 2001, the Australian Board of Statistics released a press release to the media on the topic of Jedis. "If your belief system is "Jedi" then answer as such on the census form. But if you would normally answer Anglican or Jewish or Buddhist or something else to the question "what is your religion?" and for the census you answer "Jedi" then this may impact on social services provision if enough people do the same," read the press release. The honour of most Jedis on a per capita basis goes to New Zealand, with over 53,000 adherents, making up 1.5 per cent of the population, second only to "Christian" at 58.9 per cent ("No Religion" accounted for 28.9 per cent, with 6.9 per cent objecting to the question).


* Jedi Knights Are Socialist

Reason's Jesse Kline believes that Jedi knights, the heroes of the Star Wars science fiction film series, are in fact big government liberals.

Although the Jedis did assist the Rebel Alliance in overthrowing a tyrannical emperor, it's clear that the Knights were originally set up to enforce the Galactic Senate's big government agenda. Not to be outdone, the empire continues its assault on private property. Security cameras in Long Island caught Darth Vader holding up a bank yesterday morning. If only police in Long Island had census data showing the names and addresses of the local Jedi population, they might have an easier time apprehending the dark lord. And the circle is now complete.

* Jedi Knights Are Sensible Centrists

Foreign Policy's Daniel Drezner weighs in, arguing that Jedi Knights are centrist moderates.

Are the Jedi big government advocates? That's unclear. I think it would be more accurate to describe them as cartelistic -- they refuse to permit a free market in learning the ways of the Force. After all, the Jedi Council's initial inclination is not to train Anakin Skywalker despite his obvious talents, using some BS about fear as a cover. Only when Qui-Gon threatens to go rogue do they relent. The Council does not inform the Senate that their ability to detect the force has been compromised. They're reluctant to expand their assigned tasks -- they're keepers of the peace, not soldiers. Just as clearly, their anti-competitive policies weakened their own productivity, given the fact that they were unable to detect a Sith Lord walking around right under their noses for over a decade.

So, were the Jedi perfect agents of liberty? No, probably not. But neither were they handmaidens to the greatest concentration of state power in galactic history.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/feat...arian-or-Socialist-1668?utm_source=feedburner

what political idealogy do you think the jedi prescribe to?

lets see if the vs forum can have a little fun for a change.

update...

Three political commentators have followed up on the earlier debate about the politics of Star Wars, in which other political commentators alternatively argued that Jedi Knights are socialist, libertarian, or centrist. Here are the latest mid-afternoon musings on this important subject, with one commentator reaching the inevitable conclusion that Jedi knights are a lot like the Taliban.

It's About Checks and Balances

The American Prospect's Adam Serwer argues that "the real problem with the Galactic Republic was the type of government."

Sure, it's fair to say that the Galactic Republic was large, but it was a completely decentralized institution, responsible mostly for facilitating trade, moderating disputes and maintaining a standard currency. They had no standing military and a weak chief executive, which is precisely how Palpatine took over in the first place. If anything, Palpatine's ability to manipulate the initial dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation into a full-on conflict is an example of what happens when government doesn't have the ability to ensure the market remains free and fair.
It's About the Articles of Confederation


Liberal blogger Jonathan Bernstein makes the case that Star Wars is about the struggle between states' rights versus strong federal government:

The Galactic Republic? We have a unicameral legislature, and as far as we can see each planet gets one vote. The Republic appears to be pretty much absent in the internal affairs of the planets. The only policies it considers that we know of are war and trade negotiations. Within either (presumably) core planets such as Naboo, or peripherals ones such as Tatooine, the central government appeared to have little if any presence or authority. What does that sound like to you? You got it -- it's the Articles of Confederation. Sure, they call their legislature a Senate, but there doesn't actually seem to be anything very Senate-like about it (just as there's nothing very Senate-like about the United States Senate under the Constitution). Moreover, the crisis that Palpatine creates and uses to spark the wars that eventually lead to Empire is a crisis of weak government, not strong: it's about trade disputes within the Republic!

Jedi Knights Are Like the Taliban

Libertarian blogger Seth Masket does the inevitable:

There are no great analogues for the Jedi in modern American society. They are a secretive, powerful religious sect contracted by the Republic to do vital governing tasks that include policing and diplomacy. Perhaps the Knights Templar were similar in some ways, although I don't think the Knights had any real authority within European society. Their jurisdiction was the Holy Land. In some ways, the Jedi sound more like the Taliban than anything we've got going in the U.S.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Jedi-Knights-Are-Like-the-Taliban-1687
 
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It's hard to classify the Jedi. Because George Lucas is so scatterbrained about this shit that he goes in ten directions at once, and then shoots his movies in one take and says he'll fix the bad dialog with CGI.
 
They are very skeptical of government. They don't trust any politician. Yet they're very authoritarian, submitting to the Jedi Council and their 'master' for everything.
 
[quote name='camoor']The Jedi are a Pantheist CIA.[/QUOTE]

bingo. or possibly a better ID would be Pantheist Samurai.
 
I like how the man arguing that jedis are libertarians is doing so because they didn't want to answer a question. Obviously, all their policies must have libertarian influences as a result.

Bah.
 
I think he's pointing to recent libertarian candidates like Rand Paul and Sharron Angle who are boycotting media that ask them 'questions'.

Anyway, on topic, they might be neoconservatives as well. They subscribe to the Manichean world view of the Force. 'You're either with us or against us.'

They also subscribe to the idea that some people are inherently superior (mitochondria bullshit.) I'm not sure what view that would be. It certainly isn't Republican, because Republicans believe anyone who works hard can become successful. Poor people are poor because they choose to be.
 
They ran the whole scene for a helluva long time, had an all powerful figure head, dicked it all up and screwed up everyone for a good while. Finally came around and let the empire go and redeemed themselves via chilling out and letting an upstart take the reins.

Sounds like the British to me. Soft socialists then?
 
Three political commentators have followed up on the earlier debate about the politics of Star Wars, in which other political commentators alternatively argued that Jedi Knights are socialist, libertarian, or centrist. Here are the latest mid-afternoon musings on this important subject, with one commentator reaching the inevitable conclusion that Jedi knights are a lot like the Taliban.

It's About Checks and Balances

The American Prospect's Adam Serwer argues that "the real problem with the Galactic Republic was the type of government."

Sure, it's fair to say that the Galactic Republic was large, but it was a completely decentralized institution, responsible mostly for facilitating trade, moderating disputes and maintaining a standard currency. They had no standing military and a weak chief executive, which is precisely how Palpatine took over in the first place. If anything, Palpatine's ability to manipulate the initial dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation into a full-on conflict is an example of what happens when government doesn't have the ability to ensure the market remains free and fair.
It's About the Articles of Confederation


Liberal blogger Jonathan Bernstein makes the case that Star Wars is about the struggle between states' rights versus strong federal government:

The Galactic Republic? We have a unicameral legislature, and as far as we can see each planet gets one vote. The Republic appears to be pretty much absent in the internal affairs of the planets. The only policies it considers that we know of are war and trade negotiations. Within either (presumably) core planets such as Naboo, or peripherals ones such as Tatooine, the central government appeared to have little if any presence or authority. What does that sound like to you? You got it -- it's the Articles of Confederation. Sure, they call their legislature a Senate, but there doesn't actually seem to be anything very Senate-like about it (just as there's nothing very Senate-like about the United States Senate under the Constitution). Moreover, the crisis that Palpatine creates and uses to spark the wars that eventually lead to Empire is a crisis of weak government, not strong: it's about trade disputes within the Republic!

Jedi Knights Are Like the Taliban

Libertarian blogger Seth Masket does the inevitable:

There are no great analogues for the Jedi in modern American society. They are a secretive, powerful religious sect contracted by the Republic to do vital governing tasks that include policing and diplomacy. Perhaps the Knights Templar were similar in some ways, although I don't think the Knights had any real authority within European society. Their jurisdiction was the Holy Land. In some ways, the Jedi sound more like the Taliban than anything we've got going in the U.S.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/features/view/feature/Jedi-Knights-Are-Like-the-Taliban-1687
 
You heard it here folks...

yoda__small__140.jpg
= Terrorist
 
bread's done
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