When you think of the Rebels fighting against the evil Empire of Star Wars, you might be quick to compare liberal Democrats as the Rebels and conservative Republicans in the role of Darth Vader, the Emperor and the rest of the Empire.
However, the Conservative website American Daily Review thinks we all have it backwards. Dr. Tony Magana suggests that it’s the Republicans who best represent the ideals of the Rebel Alliance.
Dr. Magana writes:
The 1977 classic movie, Star Wars, portrayed an epic struggle between a righteous outnumbered few (Rebel Alliance) against a much stronger dominant government (Empire). The now well known story tells how a small group of activists can effect change by adhering to their principals as a source of power and focusing their efforts on the identifiable vulnerability of their adversary. A useful analogy may be drawn to the current situation of contemporary conservative activism.
In his article, Dr. Magana takes a look at Twitter trends to see what topics are being talked about online the most, as opposed to the topics that mainstream media controls and “casts the Democrats in a favorable fashion and castigating the Republicans.”
In his research, he notes that the top tagged tweets are written by conservative bloggers using the hashtag #tcot (short for “Top Conservatives on Twitter”), which in turn he translates to mean Twitter’s top hashtagged stories are dominated by Conservatives. (Though Oprah and Ashton Kutcher probably wouldn’t agree with that assessment.)
Just as the Rebel Alliance banded together to used technology and unite their grassroots efforts to overthrow the Empire, Dr. Magana suggests that the Conservatives do the same as he writes:
The recent success of the tea party movement was accomplished not by the single organizational efforts of the Republican party or some imagined Fox News conspiracy as contrived by the left but rather by a grass roots movement facilitated by the internet which allowed numerous neighborhood and local movements to communicate with each other. This mechanism is now being used to allow almost instantaneous response to issues like gun control, abortion, and interrogation methods by Conservatives.
In Star Wars the Jedi were warned against using hate as a destructive force but instead to trust their principals. Similarly, Conservatives must avoid spending too much time being reactive (the antagonist) or negative and instead spend more time being protagonist for Conservative principals. This way they can begin to control the message.
Dr. Magana continues with the Star Wars analogy:
The recent departure of Arlene Specter can be likened to the lancing of an abscess to remove the nidus of infection which is necessary for a body to be healed. Similarly, the Republican party must purge out the Republicans In Name Only (RINO) if they do not immediately repent. The “force” of the Republican party is their conservative principals, just like the Jedi Luke Skywalker, they must resist temptations away from this force.
I am reminded of the classic battle in the movie Star Wars where the small force of the Rebel Alliance is attacking the much larger and stronger fleet of the Empire. They know that to win there is only one strategy, they must focus their attack on a specific area of vulnerability on the otherwise impenetrable Death Star. In the end, victory was achieved by “staying on target.”
My advice to the Republican party is simple, believe in the “force” (your conservative principles). Identify the “target” (the economy and the war). Win by “staying on target.”
Read the entire article here:
What Star Wars Teaches Conservatives ( via American Daily Review)
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SOURCE: io9.com
Tags: Politics
“Rebel scum”… picture of Porkins… you crack me up, Bonnie!
As a conservative, I have to object to others of my ilk making themselves such easy targets. But I still like to laugh at them when they do.
Conservatives stand for keeping. Liberals stand for giving. That being said, we all KNOW that big business actually runs the world, so cut the crap! This is not why i look on starwars.com.
Please consider the facts democrats are deceptive and are command and control – btw republicans give much more to charity they are the givers too just not the slaves of the empire!
If Conservatives are the Rebel Alliance, we need Han for President.
THIS was one of the most refreshing and affirming articles I’ve ever read… it joins two things dear to my heart: Star Wars and Conservatism. I particularly appreciated what he had to say about the Republican party rooting out the RINO’s (they may be powerful people, but they’re ultimately traitors)! I don’t know how many times I’ve had similar thoughts to this.
A side note: Read up on the story of Emperor Palpatine… as a story character, he embodies the evils of politics, whatever party you ascribe to… In fact, he symbolized the real ambition behind those who would seek to consolidate power in the name of ‘bi-partisanship’. Bi-partisanship is not evil unto itself, but it’s a huge opportunity for power to those who would use it for their own selfish means. The people need to be more wary, and stop being sheep. That’s what turned the Republic in the Empire!
I’m sure a few anti-conservative people are going to post some rude comments here, but I am just so grateful that you shared this on StarWars.com!!!! Very happy SW fan, here! THANKS!
what a gross twisting of ideology.
That’s funny…I seem to remember that it was the Rebel Alliance that was inclusive and made of many groups and species to fight oppression. The Empire was the one who destroyed anyone who did not conform to their ideas. I think that Dr. Magana needs to watch the movies again.
Oh, and keep politics out of Star Wars!!!!
I’m not sure what to think about this article or the fact this blog decided to post it. (I suspect this was set up so conservatives can be mocked.)
I am a conservative and I’m happy to forget about the cold civil war in this country for a few freakin’ minutes when it comes to fandom. Increasingly I’ve felt uncomfortable with the direction starwars.com has taken. Bring back the good old days when SW was for everybody.
Dude, conservatives set themselves up to be mocked.
Wow…. Republicans are stupid
And by the way, Republicans are centered on themselves and hate everybody (Rush Limbaugh is the Jesus of hate). Isn’t that true with the Empire?
This is very sick and wrong.
And no, they aren’t.
And the conservative here was the one with the rude comments.
Dr. Magana’s conception of the Force is misdirected, how can the economically liberal, pro-occupation, conservative party be advocates for peace, harmony, and understanding of universal energies? Conservatives are better classified as the Storm Troopers that conserve the familiar values and securities established by the Galactic Empire…The Jedi are selfless, they do not seek excitement or adventure, such traits that were shown by so many of the conservative representatives upon the invasion of Iraq…
Even the Republican party is dying.
Funny how the “Evil Empire”(TM) idea is only bandied around now, when a black Democrat follows one of the worst Republican presidents of all time. They should have forged their “Rebel Alliance” and started firing off proton torpedoes when Bush was steadily increasing his own executive powers and insulating himself behind a wall of willfull defiance of governing principles.
[...] love for science fiction isn’t limited to political affiliation. Conservatives love to talk about Star Wars, Star Trek, Doctor Who and more; and now they can read all the sci-fi news and rumors without any [...]
Conservatives = power in the hands of a few. The current method for conservatives to use to fight for power in the hands of few is unfettered capitalism because it allows them to fly it under the banner of ‘freedom.’ (Freedom from taxation, the only true moral tenet of conservatism.) But the result is the the same. Power in the hands of a few.
The Jedi and the Rebels fight for the little guy. To suggest that Padme’ Amidala or Luke Skywalker are fighting for conservative principles is downright ludicrous. It’s delusional. But then again so is believing that tax cuts create jobs. (Demand creates jobs geniuses. Econ 101. Doesn’t matter how much cash you give to the wealthy if the teeming masses don’t have a dime not a single job will be created.)
Conservatism’s two moral tenets are resistance to change and justification of inequality. They are the Sith, and Star Wars is a tale about humanity’s never ending struggle for freedom.
Silly, there are no rebels until after the fall of the Republic, they were called Separatists until the rise of Empire. NUTE GUNRAY was a leader of the greedy Trade Federation…
Democrats want power “UNLIMITED POWER” That’s why they give money to the Welfare bums. So they get votes and stay in power. They trick the public into thinking there should be a working class and a non-working class. Obama believes the non-working class should live like a bunch of Jabbas and get money an power for doing nothing all day from the working people like the Jedi who work and are forced to defend and help thee bums would they should be pushing towards more important matters. So yes, Democrats do stand for giving, as long as that giving means votes. If it doesn’t benefit Obama, the don’t give. And Republicans do stand for keeping, keeping what is yours from those greedy Trade Federations/Welfare Idiots. Republicans do believe in giving to the less fortunate and poor. But not to those who choose to be poor when they are capable of working. Republicans are trying to rebel against the tyranny and manipulation of Obama. If you believe in the principles of giving to the lazy and taking from the hard-working you absolutely disgust me. And I’m not talking about the lottery winners, they absolutely
Conservatives are definitely the rebel alliance. What many people forget, especially in this day and age, is that conservative stand for smaller government in the hands of the many (the republic) while democrats stand for big government in the hands of a few (the empire). BTW, whoever said that democrats are givers and republicans are keeps is dead wrong. By and large republicans give much more than democrats do. The difference is that republican’s don’t want the GOVERNMENT to take from them to give to others, they can do it for themselves. With democrats its all about show: “look what we in the government are doing for you, now vote for us.” Very much like the empire….