Let me tell you a story
In the late 19th century a young, law college dropout was encouraged by Herman Melville to take his well-read knowledge and his natural gift of expression to a level of creativity that had yet to be seen in the literary world. Over the course of the next two decades Jules Verne penned some of the most well-known literary works like "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "Around the World in 80 Days." Of the 90+ novels and short stories that he wrote, over 80% of his scientific predictions came true. Even down to the details, in one book, of a German tyrant rising to power bent on world conquest, genocide, and eugenics.
Over the next century and a half, other science fiction authors (Asimov, Heinlein, Herbert) have addressed more than technology in their work, predicting cultural and political tendencies that prove to be fairly accurate. More recently, science fiction screen writers and producers have stepped up to the challenge of the tradition of Verne, to put forth their future society ideas. One of the first, Gene Roddenberry, openly admitted that his intention was to do exactly that--to bring to the screen in a creative way, a series of tales dealing with issues that did or would plague society. The popularity and longevity of his legacy is evidence of his success in telling stories that relate to people.
Then came George Lucas. The story I am about to tell, is an application of his Star Wars saga. The saga written over 30 years ago, has exquisite symbolism to today's world.
Two and a half centuries ago, in a land once not known to exist... a Republic was born. Out of the world's traditions of tyranny, imperialism, and monarchy, a nation was conceived, purchased, and implemented by men and women who craved freedom from these types of oppression, and sought the guidance of a supreme being, who transcended the tendencies and wisdom of mankind. So that no single individual could rule them again, they put into place a form of government which would police itself, and have the power to protect the people from other nations that would threaten their way of life. The government had a leader who could not make law, a legislature that could not implement law, and a court that could not make or implement law, but made sure no laws were designed or made that superseded the original expectations of the government charter: the Constitution. The three were given the ability to correct each other and make sure they stayed true to their calling.
To protect against outside control, the military was formed. Although there have been several branches formed over the years, there has always been just two parts--1) the main force by which a large or overpowering threat could be repelled, and 2) a highly skilled and trained elite group that could work in covert and surgical ways to keep the security of the nation's people intact. Both of these elements have been trained to love God, cherish honor, love country, and to protect, at all costs, the principles of the constitution. They are led and guided by a council known as the Chiefs of Staff.
The founders, however, were not infallible and left loop-holes in the constitution that could be used to undermine its very existence. Nor did they anticipate that a dark, and sinister force would lay in wait, scheming over the decades to use the system against itself to bring about the Republic's downfall and a new kind of power and control.
Using the power of hate, anger, and self-interest, this sinister, or dark-sided, force put in to action its destructive plan. The first objective was to disassociate the people from a dependence on the Creator and absolute standards, and look to mankind, specifically those the dark side controlled, to dictate what was moral or acceptable. Using the power of self-interest they accomplished this by feeding egos and self-esteem, pointing to feelings within as a basis for moral judgment. Their more blatant efforts accomplished the devaluing of human life, the elevation of all other life, and the doctrine of tolerance. This doctrine, widely accepted now, teaches that whatever you believe is acceptable, and others should honor that. Of course the exception to this is Christianity. The dark side claims that this cannot and will not be tolerated. They use the powers of hate to counter any attempt at bringing the Christian moral absolutes back into the lime light, and they use the power of anger, stirring up conflict where they can, masking it with words like racism and "personal rights."
The second objective was to render the Constitution powerless. Again, relying on the same dark powers, they sought to take advantage of the loop-hole that Thomas Jefferson warned us about: That the Supreme Court could usurp the authority of both the legislative and executive branches by making law with no accountability under the guise of "policy decisions", or redefining what the Constitution actually says. This they accomplished by the second half of the 20th century and the Supreme Court as been making law and subtly changing the constitution since then with no consequences. In practice, the nation went from a republic to an oligarchy. The dark side has made great efforts to put at least five sympathetic members on this board of rulers over the years, whispering and influencing the nation's executive to nominate one every time an opening appears. When this becomes imperative, they buy into office an apprentice who will do their bidding.
The third and final objective is to remove any threat which could arise from within the nation that might put it back on track. In Lucas's story, it was a slaughter of all the Jedi. In this story, it is an iron clamp on weapons in the hands of citizens, and the discredit, or threat-labeling, of our veterans, especially the ones who once served in the elite group that has covertly protected us over the years. It does not stop there. The creation of a realistic and powerful threat from without is empowered, marring the image of a leader who is not drawn to the dark side. With the outside threat instilling terror in the hearts and minds of the people, a new leader emerges with promises of protection, prosperity, and purpose, and under the control of their newly appointed apprentice, they rise to temporarily save the day. Then the dark force puts forth an effort to undermine the authority of the constitution with socialistic and nationalistic ideals. The promises are conveniently not kept, and once the people look to these promises for security, a new threat is revealed, and marshal law can set in, with the nation turning from an oligarchy to a dictatorship. A dictatorship authored and engineered by these dark-sided forces. With a people mostly disarmed, and the veterans, who could rally them to rebellion, disgraced, the empire is complete, and the dark side triumphs.
It is a dark and depressing story, but not without hope. For the third objective has not yet been met. The people are still armed, the veterans still walk tall amongst us, and most importantly, we still have the right to vote!! The dark side considers us weak, unable to put up enough of a resistance to counteract their long and thought out plan. Their over-confidence will be their down-fall. We can win back our country. Fill the Washington offices with those who still believe that our inalienable rights come from the Creator, that there are absolute morals and lines we should never cross, and that the Constitution should stand as is, and back in control of government. This takes not just a replaced executive branch, but a legislature that will exercise their power to impeach Supreme Court Judges when they step out of line, and determine law instead of submit to the original ideas and goals of the Constitution. It is a lot of work, not only in the campaign department, but in the searching out of strong moral leadership with sound character and integrity. Are we the people of this nation up to the task?
There is an unanswered underlying question to this story. One I'm sure that any Star Wars fan is asking. Who is the Sith master? For those of you who are not fans, the question can be worded: Who represents the schemer, the one behind the scenes authoring the bidding, the dark force master? I have my ideas, but I would rather leave you with this thought--who says the master has to be human?
I'm Been Franklin
