'Star Wars' Raises Questions on U.S. Policy

[Burnsys]

"All democracies turn into dictatorships - but not by coup. The people give their democracy to a dictator, whether it's Julius Caesar or Napoleon or Adolf Hitler. Ultimately, the general population goes along with the idea... That's the issue that I've been exploring: How did the Republic turn into the Empire ... and how does a democracy become a dictatorship?

Star Wars fimmaker George Lucas, at Cannes film festival 2005

 

[arildno]

To call the Republic of Rome for a democracy is hardly historically correct..

Lucas does have a point, though:
What is the most likely manner in which a democracy might be turned into a dictatorship? (barring external invasion and so on)
Wouldn't such a change need to be anchored in, or endorsed by, the "people"?

 

[selfAdjoint]

The history of how the Roman Republic got to the Julius Caesar point is very instructive. It was a century or longet in the happening and has something in it for everyone. Proto-socialism ended by assassination (the Gracchi), the good general who became the bad dictator (Marius), the hero who became the even worse dictator (Sulla) and so on and on. The Republic worked as long as it was just for the elite landowners, but as soon as the common folks (the plebs) were brought in it became violently unstable.

 

[arildno]

Good post, SelfAdjoint; but it can hardly be said that the Gracchi's were pushing towards an egalitarian society. They weren't.

 

[Big Papa]

Star Wars is about real wars.

The point of The last Star Wars movie and the current one has similar meanings. That is about launching phoney wars to extend the current power structor in place. Did George bush know about 9-11 before it took place. According to an articl in Penthouse that was published either this year or last year, at least the F.B.I. did know. For conflicting interests in personal finances, it choose not to do anything. There are other sources stating that Bush knew because The president of Russia tried to warn him in August of that same year. So the similarities of this being a phoney war like the clone wars is really there. However, the point is this, how much more power has our president received as compared to the man who would become emperior in the Star Wars film?