#the republic

No, no that's not it

The idea that the Jedi should have never been involved in the war is simplistic (and moralistic), it ignores several key realities

A long time ago... In a galaxy far, far away... There was a girl with a leash A beast in her care And a civilized man.

The girl cried: "please, accept me!" And the civilized man said: "I would accept you, but that beast... Its claws are so long, I fear for my children. It could tear them apart! So long as the beast has claws I cannot accept you."

And so she took the beast's claws For surely it would not need them Because they would be safe forever Once they were accepted by the civilized man.

Again the girl cried: "please, accept me!" And the civilized man said: "I would accept you, but that beast... Its teeth are so sharp, I fear for my children. It could eat them in the night! So long as the beast has teeth I cannot accept you."

And so she took the beast's teeth Pried from its mouth, one by one For soon they would be safe forever Under the roof of the civilized man.

Again the girl cried: "please, accept me!" And the civilized man said: "I would accept you, but that beast... Its scales are so rough, I fear for my children. It could scrape their skin raw with a touch! So long as the beast has scales I cannot accept you."

And so she took the beast's scales And used them for her garden instead For soon they would be safe forever Under the roof of the civilized man.

Yet again the girl cried: "please, accept me!" And the civilized man said: "I would accept you, but that beast... Its voice is so loud, I fear for my children. It could howl terror into their hearts! So long as the beast has a voice I cannot accept you."

And so she took the beast's voice And spoke only the civilized way For soon they would be safe forever Under the roof of the civilized man.

Once more, surely, the girl cried: "please, accept me!" And the civilized man said: "I would accept you, but that beast... Its pack is so vast, I fear for my children. It could hunt them with its horde! So long as the beast has a pack I cannot accept you."

And so she took the beast from its pack And locked it up in her garden For soon they would be safe forever Under the roof of the civilized man.

A final time, the girl cried: "please, please, accept me!" And the civilized man said: "I would accept you, but that beast... Its food is so strange, I fear for my children. It could sicken them with disease! So long as the beast eats such strange food I cannot accept you."

And so she took the beast's food And ate only civilized meals For soon they would be safe forever Under the roof of the civilized man.

And the civilized man smiled. "At last, at last! It has no claws or teeth to hurt me. No tough scales to block my knife. And it is starved and weak. No voice to cry out against us. No pack to come to its aid. Finally, we can kill the beast!"

"But you said you'd accept me!" Cried the girl And the beast could not defend her And would not, For it hated her for all she'd taken.

But their rules around

fear

attachment

loyalty

and control

helped create the conditions Palpatine needed to turn Anakin against them.

It’s Sunday. I needed a break from writing about the real world.