Jedi and the Threat to Democracy

A lot of people don't easily tend to see the fictional universe of Star Wars being readily applicable to real life. I honestly struggle with seeing how Star Wars ISN'T applicable. It seems obvious to me that it was based on real life people, places, situations. It's kind of like how there is a toon version of Star Craft where they just replace all the visuals with cartoon versions. Star Wars does the same thing. There's a reason Storm Troopers are related to Nazis. It isn't even subtle. Nazis had "storm troopers".

And of course, if you're looking at it objectively, then storm troopers are kinda cool but the issue is what they're fighting for. From the perspective of the storm troopers they were on the right side, fighting for what they believed in. However, they were a tool; just pawns in the hands of a dictator who made it seem like his populist message matched his desire to protect them. And so they gave him power to join him in that fight for their own protection.

Because they were afraid.

Because they were afraid, Palpatine was able to use that fear to take control. But in his case, he had engineered the events that would cause their fear in the first place. And he simply positioned himself to take control.

At this point it's no secret that I view Donald Trump as another Hitler. It's not because I just want to demonize him because he's a Republican or because he's (now) on the conservative right bandwagon. I've never really made the same kind of association before. Trump actually made me learn more about Hitler than I ever did before because before Hitler was just a part of pop culture to me, because I wasn't in the generation that fought him. So he was more of a cartoon character than he was a man. And so, as a cartoon, it didn't matter how he rose to power or how he got all these people to go along with his ideas. But that's sort of an amazing thing to gloss over. How did he get so many people to be okay with genocide?

Of course it would have been impossible if the Germans had a long history of respecting the Jews as equals. He couldn't have just come along and change that and get them to be okay with rounding up the Jews and killing them. Richard Spencer understands this too. And if you don't know who Richard Spencer is, you should. Spencer tries not to look like the masses of uneducated people who hate blacks and Jews. He also hates blacks and Jews but he wants to frame the whole conversation in some kind of higher minded intellectual construct in which he tries to give the impression that he's fair and simply trying to do what's "right" for his own people. What should be scary is that this is an effective way to gain support from the people who aren't as rabidly racist as he really is underneath the mask.

Then what happens...

Then the people who aren't as rabid message their support. And that's picked up by people less rabid than them and it continues on until people who are more moderate and who don't believe in hate and who don't think they're racist at all, they pick up the most sanitized version (of something that still originated with rabid racists and white supremacists) of the message and they vote in favor of it or for people who are in agreement with it and they don't mind if some of these less rabid (looking) thinkers are a big part of the team. And if they don't follow politics they simply don't know and may never learn that individuals, like Steven Miller, are extremely racist and believe in policy prescriptions that are based on their racist ideas (#identitypolitics). And their whole team (GOP) spends so much time demonizing the other side as "tax and spend" liberals who "murder babies and are homosexual promoters" that they simply turn a blind eye to whatever immoral behavior exists on their own side (or their own spending).

And to this point, some may read this and swear Steven Miller isn't a racist, but hold on... that argument has been put to rest since we now have evidence from the Southern Poverty Law Center that absolutely proves that he is from his own communications.

So what does all this have to do with democracy? Don't Republicans only want real Americans to participate in democracy and not illegal immigrants? Everything is couched under this umbrella of law and order. But gradually they just use that fear people have and turn it into hatred by equating criminality with the nationality or race of the people they want to attack. And they simply protect themselves by saying "some of them are okay" as if saying that makes it not racist. Because that leaves room for the "some" to think they're special and that they're not the ones being demonized. And it makes the people who are less rabid and those who don't believe they are racist at all to think "oh he's not talking about my amigo, Miguel, and his family."

But no... its not about the law. That's just the excuse. It's about not having too many non-whites being able to vote; being able to participate in "their" democracy. And this is the same attitude that began to develop in Germany against the Jews. Jews seemed to have good jobs and businesses. And when native Germans didn't it didn't seem fair to them that others did. And let's be honest. Jews have certain internal laws and cultural values that don't play fair or equal with non-Jews. That's the thing. It's not antisemitism to note that that their culture encourages them to do business with each other and give each other economic advantages. And even when they don't have their own nation, they still use these national laws in the Torah, to create a culture that treats themselves as their own nation in competition with everyone else. If that doesn't sound right, well... its because it isn't. And that's why, even though they're also white, many don't really act like it. Their Jewish identity often comes first depending on how much they subscribe to the Jewish religion. But if a non-religious Jew, embraces the white identity then you might get someone like Steven Miller.

You can't expect any group to come out one day and tell you exactly what they're trying to do and why you shouldn't support them. They're obviously going to hide their intentions. And it would be nice if it was just impossible that either political party in the US was immune to something so unAmerican as attacking democracy itself by trying to make mostly white votes count. But it really doesn't matter which party it is or what either party believes. There has always been a percentage of the population who feels like Anakin felt. After all, Anakin was putting his own safety on the line by trying to protect Naboo when the Senate was dragging its feet, not really wanting to get involved. And if bureaucracy stands in the way of them getting what they need then they'll be against it. And if politicians tell them that hey look its really all these "other" voters that are to blame for "us politicians who are on your side" for things not getting done then... the "others" will become the enemy and slowly people will turn against them.

If you've thought of a hundred reasons why they're wrong or I'm wrong, then that's good.

This is the first time in my life time that I've ever seen a POTUS request assistance from a foreign country to help in his election. But most of the time the media stops there. Let's call it for what it is. Trump wanted Ukraine to run propaganda against the possible Democratic nominee. The propaganda didn't have to be true or even amount to anything. Trump wanted a repeat of what happened when Comey announced that they were investigating Hilary Clinton. Even though the Trump administration quickly started using all kinds of personal email and whatsapp for their communications, with some being so potentially illegal that they had to hide them on a server for classified information, it didn't matter as long as there wasn't an investigation about it. He held back military aid, trying to get this done. And then you have his top guy saying "We do this all the time. Get over it."

In 2016 Russia tried to hack our election servers but that really didn't work that well. And this is typically what's pointed to by the team playing defense. However, Russia also put out a disinformation campaign and a lot of Russian bots and trolls targeted social media in order to influence voters. So yeah, that happened. But just like with Germany giving increasing support to the Nazi party we are starting to give increasing support to the GOP in spite of massive corruption and outside influence that seems to always lead back to either Russia or MBS. And these are not what I would call "the good guys".

I believe that if you're a Jedi looking for something to do or some way of serving, I think we need to start getting ready to play some defense against foreign countries trying to influence our elections in 2020. I will personally be doing battle with Trolls and whatever else they send our way. And if there's enough interest I may create a FB group to help identify accounts, flag suspicious content, and coordinate defenses against their talking points. Russia is purposefully doing much of the same thing the GOP has been doing with the Southern Strategy, except they don't care about America at all. They just want to use our fears to make us hate each other which helps to make the argument that democracy doesn't work. If dictators can use the US to prove that democracy doesn't work and that it ends in fighting and possibly even civil war, then that's an argument they can use to re-establish kingdoms that are content under their dictatorial rule. So you see... this is why democracy is under attack. This is the why and white supremacy is the how. White supremacy, not because I'm black and everything is "the man", but rather because there is a clear connection between the Southern Strategy, Trump, Miller, Bannon, the alt Right, the Nazis, "Jews will not replace us", Dylan Roof, etc. Just like the Germans endorsed the Nazi party we are seeing the rise of white supremacy as a tool to attack democracy itself and the multi-cultural fabric of modern American society. I hope you will prepare and fight with me against these powerful foes; and fight for democracy.

so, I dont follow stuff as much as you do but I do have one question, isnt it always been true that illegial imigrants are illegal to vote? isnt that always been a rule?

of course. And despite lies to the contrary it is extremely rare for an illegal immigrant to attempt to do so since they spend most of their lives trying to stay OFF the radar. Coming here illegally isn't that easy. Most illegals are typically Canadians overstaying a visa. But of course, no one seems to care about illegal Canadians.

On one hand the GOP doesn't really care who votes. The problem, for them, is who people tend to vote for. They, like Trump, have already had a major policy decision to try and get as many white votes as possible. On the surface it seems to be just about conservative ideals. And there was a time when black people en mass voted Republican. And while some things remain the same other things change. The party isn't what it used to be. That's why the Tea party wing was so upset and executed a hostile takeover, but even that subsided and largely failed when it comes to upholding conservative economic values.

And so now the GOP knows it can't survive by appealing to these same values because people can see they don't really care. Their guy has no family values and might as well use the bible for toilet paper. But he's willing to give them judges to satisfy the religious conservatives while appealing to racial hatreds and xenophobia to scare people into voting for him. And its only because LEGAL hispanics, even though they aren't loyal to either party and many are Republicans, too many Hispanics vote for Democrats. And its not just about ethnicity but age. Younger voters have a bigger tendency to be idealistic and liberal. The last thing the GOP wants is a new generation of legal immigrants. Because even if the parents are illegal, if the children are born here they are legal and will become eligible to vote eventually.

When you combine this with the negative birthrates and the fears of some people about whites losing the majority in terms of demographics, what you really end up with is a sort of whisper quiet white power message that is actually resonating. It's just that a lot of people call it "white nationalism". In reality, it means white control over the nation. And they are afraid of having too many black and brown babies as brown people have the highest birthrate. But it shouldn't be about race. It should be about who has the best policies for America and everyone who legally lives and works here.

well, just my simple ovservation but you seen to make a LOT of assumptions about what people are doing in secret and in their heads. Im not sure if that is the best way to go. I just see a law that needs to be enforced and tje president is doing that, that is really all there is to it that I can tell? why is that a bad thing?

ZealotX wrote: largely failed when it comes to upholding conservative economic values.

As a Brit, I find this particularly interesting. It seems to me that in the 80s (Reagan and Thatcher) British and American Conservatives were pretty well aligned. What we've since though, is British Conservatives pursue Economic Conservativism at the expense of Social Conservativism (British Conservatives are EXTREMELY Liberal compared to America) whilst American Conservatives have pursued Social Conservativism at the expense of, and often in direct contradiction to, Economic Conservativism.

There no longer really seems to be a natural alliance between the two

Fyxe wrote: well, just my simple ovservation but you seen to make a LOT of assumptions about what people are doing in secret and in their heads. Im not sure if that is the best way to go. I just see a law that needs to be enforced and tje president is doing that, that is really all there is to it that I can tell? why is that a bad thing?

It's based on a lot of information and politics. For example... the Southern Strategy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgeT0Klkqug&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0enXrjdLxlwtTjrtDHuVUIY4NNVHmXp0fmJYvVWP7n7wu9t0vwOLHMEeI

well that just seems like a stupid idea. and apparently the ones that did it found out it was stupid as well and so that idea is dead. not seeing how it is valid for the president enforcing laws today though?

Brick wrote:

ZealotX wrote: largely failed when it comes to upholding conservative economic values.

As a Brit, I find this particularly interesting. It seems to me that in the 80s (Reagan and Thatcher) British and American Conservatives were pretty well aligned. What we've since though, is British Conservatives pursue Economic Conservativism at the expense of Social Conservativism (British Conservatives are EXTREMELY Liberal compared to America) whilst American Conservatives have pursued Social Conservativism at the expense of, and often in direct contradiction to, Economic Conservativism.

There no longer really seems to be a natural alliance between the two

You're 100% correct.

And I think at this point, its about power for them. And its not just because red vs blue. No, its because corporations in the US are legally considered people. And so we have massive corruption in the form of legal bribery. So they're doing what their donors want, not necessarily what the American people want. And this isn't untrue for Democrats. There are plenty of Democrats that have been bought and sold like cattle. That's the real reason why hardly anything can get done because its mostly getting done, and not getting done, on behalf of corporations. Corporations know they can use one party for certain things and the other for other things. Each congress person (and they're not all corrupt) considers how many votes they may lose if they vote in favor of the corporations.

This creates a certain amount of motivation to stay in power, regardless of ideology, so that they can keep getting paid off. The left maintains power by being inclusive of minority groups which are growing while the right maintained power by being exclusive. But they did this at the cost of their own interests, not knowing that their majority would sooner or later become the minority. So now they're hyping people up, and using "law enforcement" as an excuse to fight against the growing demographics of minority voters. And because, the reality is, this alone is not enough, we see them resorting to voter suppression, extreme redistricting, and now even asking foreign governments for help.

Fyxe wrote: well that just seems like a stupid idea. and apparently the ones that did it found out it was stupid as well and so that idea is dead. not seeing how it is valid for the president enforcing laws today though?

Because... you have to look beyond the obvious. When Palpatine took control over the Senate what he was doing was 100% legal but 100% a manipulation of the entire system. He started the conflict and used it to stoke fears. Trump is stoking prejudice and making immigrants sound like hordes of walking dead. He literally asked if the military could shoot them. That's not even a joke.

He doesn't care about the law. He's transactional. It's means to an end. That's it. And much of the Trump platform was provided by Bannon and Miller. And Miller just recently has been exposed as a racist white supremacist. So it's really not that hard to connect the dots if you WANT to. If you don't want to see it you wont. That's why their strategy uses dog whistles. And if you watch the video that's a republican strategist for a previous president that tells you about it, not some liberal conspiracy theorist. The problem is that they know their REAL views and agenda would not be popular if they came right out and said it. So they dress it up but its still lip stick on a pig. But its enough so that they can claim they're not racist and they're just trying to protect hard working Americans by getting rid of illegals. Obama quietly did this too, but the difference was he didn't use them for propaganda. He didn't fear monger. And so the idea that the left wants more illegals is idiotic because if that was the case Obama wouldn't have quietly deported so many. Trump does it loudly because he wants you to think illegal immigrant = criminal. So asylum seekers? It's conditioning. Just like "Fake news" and "witch hunt" and "no quid pro quo". He just repeats these things until his people just believes them and believes that opposition to him is opposition to them because he keeps telling them that he's successfully doing what they want.

And that's not even true.

A lot of the jobs he claimed to save, he didn't. A lot of the farmers are angry. Trade wars. Economic growth was actually better under Obama and the economy was already trending in the right direction by the time Obama left office. Most of the wall was already built under previous presidents even though he tried to take credit for EXISTING wall. And even though he said it would work that has now been debunked. People have already been cutting through it with common tools you can get from Home Depot. But Trump is good at BSing people. He's a con man. That's why he got sued for Trump university and why his charities got sued too. He's a con man. So its not about enforcing the law. It's about power. If you can't see that, after you actually look, it's because you don't want to see it.

So, I think I said that in a previous thread I do not think Trump is like Palpatine (I don;t think he's that conniving, more just a Neo-Conservative populist that is kind of a jerk). However, I do believe there is an interesting sub note to throw in here. One of the most substantial threats to the democratic process as can be proven through history is the control and dissemination of information. What I mean is look at what the media does (on both sides) where does this play into this narrative? I am legit am interested because I do not know. That could very well implicate Trump in your hypothesis or it has little to no effect but just an interesting point I thought was worth highlighting.

Much Love, Respect and Peace,
Kobos