Star Wars: Is the Emperor Good or Bad?

[Jester]

Regarding your reply, I'll bite: I use your and Jester's analogy of a peaceful galaxy before the Emperor took over to the America's (North and South, that is) and how the Indians survived just fine without the Spaniard and English conquerers of what is now North and South America. Truly, have you ever read the real history books on Columbus? He was a true villain which paved the was for the final showdown at Wounded Knee which all but completely eradicated the native Indians, however he is idolized as a Hero in our day and era, why? Because he helped unite this great nation in which we now live. I fail too see a difference between your analogy and mine except, of course, for our points of view.

Not just a peaceful galaxy. A powerful galaxy. The Old Republic was hardly semisedentary nomads with no access to metal weapons. It was a gigantic political body capable of building up a massive army in a matter of years, with the Jedi as elite commanders, scouts and assassins.

The "empires are great!" argument applies to indigenous Americans as much as it does to the Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Dutch who conquered them. If you're looking for a group that dominates and regulates through the use of military force, the Aztecs and Inca are perfectly valid examples of empires. (And, while we're at it, the indigenous peoples of Central and South America are far from wiped out. The conquest of Columbus and his successors was not primarily one of North America.) What advantage accrues from the Spanish ruling, and not the original indigenous empires? What did humanity gain from the conquistadores that could not have been gained through peaceful coexistence? Unless you take the position that "all empires are good because their emperors say so", or "all existing nations are the best possible ones", which would really be begging the question, I don't see it.

So I suppose it could go both ways. It really just depends on your point of view.

Have you *seen* stormtroopers fight? How on earth are the Emperor's troops going to beat the Yuuzhan Vong? They got beaten by ewoks. These are the single most useless forces known to man, here, now, or even a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

I say the Old Republic had twice the chance the Empire would have had, easy.

-Jester