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By Ryan Carver [ [link removed] ]
“Star Wars” is one of the most popular sci-fi franchises worldwide, with box office revenues topping out at more than $10 billion [ [link removed] ] and a total franchise worth of around $66 billion [ [link removed] ]. Since George Lucas’ release of what is now known as “Episode IV: A New Hope [ [link removed] ]” in 1977, the “Star Wars” universe has morphed and expanded to become a widely acclaimed phenomenon that resonates with the mass market of moviegoers, television bingers, gaming fanatics, comic enthusiasts and novel readers alike.
It is easy to get lost in the stories and grandeur of space wizards with laser-swords, but “Star Wars” also contains themes and lessons of political economy simmering below the surface that are equally (if not more) interesting to the policy-minded individual. Lucas drew inspiration for the first six mainline “Star Wars” films from real-world political and military conflicts, ranging from the Vietnam War [ [link removed] ] to thinly veiled criticism [ [link removed] ] of the George W. Bush administration. Outside these more apparent criticisms is even richer and more interesting source material from the nine mainline “Star Wars” films about various political dangers: corporate capture of political influence, bureaucratic interference and republican versus imperial forms of government. In the words of Anakin Skywalker [ [link removed] ] (played by Hayden Christensen) in “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith [ [link removed] ],” “This is where the fun begins.”
Corporate Capture
In the opening minutes of “Episode I: The Phantom Menace [ [link removed] ],” the audience is introduced to the Trade Federation [ [link removed] ], a megacorporation that operates as an interstellar shipping conglomerate in the “Star Wars” galaxy’s Outer Rim [ [link removed] ]. The Outer Rim is a series of star systems that were considered to be outside Galactic Republic [ [link removed] ] control due to resource constraints and administrative inefficiencies—a lawless part of the galaxy similar to the American Wild West. The Trade Federation and other corporations were given carte blanche to exercise their economic or even military power over this part of the galaxy, in exchange for promises to the Republic that they would keep vital trade lanes free of pirates and smugglers.
The Republic benefited from this arrangement by avoiding outrageous amounts of spending to keep its trade lanes safe, and the Trade Federation and others grew wealthy on the backs of slave laborers [ [link removed] ] and economically dispossessed populations—something the Republic did its best to ignore, and a phenomenon we unfortunately have real-world examples [ [link removed] ] of, such as Apple. Megacorporations like the Trade Federation even had representation in the Galactic Senate, something we don’t allow for in the U.S. (at least not directly [ [link removed] ]). The Trade Federation—secretly in cahoots with the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Sidious [ [link removed] ]—ends up taking advantage of this arrangement to blockade the Republic-aligned planet of Naboo [ [link removed] ] in an attempt to force the Republic to end its oversight and resolve an ongoing trade dispute. This incident creates new hostilities and distrust in the Galactic Republic, ultimately culminating in a galaxy-wide war colloquially referred to as the Clone Wars [ [link removed] ].
While it wouldn’t be fair to suggest that corporate capture of political influence is going to lead to a similar outcome in the Milky Way galaxy, this phenomenon of corporate influence seeping into the halls of power is not without real-world parallels. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010 still plays a major role in 2024, allowing corporations and political action groups to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence campaigns [ [link removed] ] while private citizens are subjected to contribution limits [ [link removed] ]. Corporate influence on government decision-making is under increasing public and legal scrutiny, but we still see new examples of unethical business practices and the curbing of market innovation. Leading tech companies are calling for AI regulation to increase their market share while simultaneously blocking new competitors [ [link removed] ] and decreasing the potential for innovation. Supply chains are tainted by the use of slave labor and unethical business practices in industries ranging from the mining of rare earth materials [ [link removed] ] to the production of cacao beans [ [link removed] ]. In our world as well as in the “Star Wars” universe, when corporate goals are prioritized over citizens’ needs, the whole system is at risk of faltering.
Bureaucratic Interference
Both the Galactic Empire [ [link removed] ] and the Republic before it were marred by political bickering and bureaucratic inefficiency. Sometimes this meant simple disagreement on the proper way to equip an army for war [ [link removed] ] or how best to deal with a newly encountered star system or alien culture, but at other times these inefficiencies had far more drastic implications. During the entirety of the nine mainline movies, bureaucrats held more power than elected officials serving in the senate. These individuals were not elected to any office, yet they controlled the flow of election funds from interested corporations to the pockets of politicians. Politicians in the “Star Wars” galaxy represented entire star systems rather than individual planets, even though those planets often had unique cultural and species-specific policy needs that were regularly overlooked. With millions of inhabitable star systems and a limited number of seats in the Galactic Senate, it would often take centuries for a new star system to gain representation and recognition by the Republic or Empire. If a bureaucrat [ [link removed] ] with a hand in the pocket of a trade conglomerate took issue with a certain star system attempting to join the Republic or Empire, that petition for membership would never see the light of day.
These unelected bureaucrats would sometimes go even further: encouraging gerrymandering [ [link removed] ] to ensure that elements of the galaxy sympathetic to government oversight of trade were sidelined, helping criminal drug-peddling [ [link removed] ] syndicates to reach noninterference agreements with each other, and serving the whims of the Republic chancellor or, later, the Emperor to reach corrupt agreements [ [link removed] ] with less-than-reputable enterprises for discounted contract rates.
Closer to home, we see many of these same activities play out, albeit on a smaller scale and with far more institutional oversight. Bureaucratic mismanagement [ [link removed] ] drives up healthcare costs [ [link removed] ], and slows down infrastructure development and transportation innovations [ [link removed] ]. Meanwhile, some bureaucrats are accused of actively corrupting and ignoring the needs of residents of certain localities [ [link removed] ]. Real-world examples of bureaucratic overreach abound in the past year of the Biden administration alone. The Department of Labor has altered gig worker classification [ [link removed] ] in a way that will limit employment opportunities across various industries, and the Federal Trade Commission is attempting to ban noncompete agreements [ [link removed] ] without congressional authority. Ceding authority to unelected government employees is often necessary to create a functional government system, but things tend to get out of hand when the established bureaucracy becomes more powerful than our elected officials.
The Military-Industrial Complex: Republic vs. Empire
The Galactic Empire is a strong example of a planned economy [ [link removed] ], one where financial decisions closely follow plans laid out by government entities. If the Republic was willing to forgo control over entire swathes of the galaxy to conserve resources and focus on more profitable enterprises near its centers of power, the Empire was quite the opposite, ruling with fear as a tool for control of the masses. The Republic had a strong military-industrial complex, one in which innovation was prioritized over everything else. If Kuat Drive Yards [ [link removed] ] could make a better, faster and cheaper starfighter than Incom Corporation [ [link removed] ], Kuat would get that government contract during the Republic era.
With the rise of the Empire came an increased focus on control and authoritarianism, and those methods of utilizing power required massive expenditure to stand up a powerful military. The Republic didn’t maintain a standing military until the Clone Wars, but Darth Sidious based the entire economy of the Empire on that very institution. He nationalized entire industries to force vertical integration [ [link removed] ] of military technology manufacturing, leading to the galactic government being the main source of employment for most of the galaxy’s inhabitants. Sidious essentially merged the government with the military-industrial complex until they were one and the same, leading to a disastrous economic depression caused by manipulation of the currency to fund endless conflicts that threw a majority of the galaxy into poverty.
The Imperial system in “Star Wars” represents a society that values the destruction of its rivals over the well-being of its people, a phenomenon we are all too familiar with on this planet. When your government prioritizes the use of fear tactics to control opposition, rebellion [ [link removed] ] is soon to follow. Myanmar is an unfortunate example of this, being in the throes of a bloody civil war [ [link removed] ] that has left nearly 50,000 people dead following a 2021 military coup. Iran has also seen widespread protesting and civil discontent [ [link removed] ] in recent years because of the nation’s fundamentalist religious government.
When your government finances itself by warring with others, destruction rather than creation becomes the priority. This is as much the case with Russian military actions [ [link removed] ] in Ukraine as it is with North Korean military spending [ [link removed] ] exceeding, on average, 33% of its GDP. If a nation’s elites view war as “good for business,” the likelihood of shadowy proxy wars (like what is now occurring in Sudan [ [link removed] ]) or manufactured conflicts increases at an alarming rate.
The Saga Continues
“Star Wars” seems only to increase in popularity over time, and as much as Disney and Lucasfilm would like to assume it’s because of great storytelling [ [link removed] ], the franchise connects with people because there is something distinctly human about the experiences and struggles presented across “Star Wars” stories, even when the subjects of said stories are decidedly not human. Young dreamer Luke Skywalker, staring up at the sky and wishing to get out of his backwater town (planet) to experience the rest of the world, is someone people can relate to. But looking past specific characters, you can also see a universe interwoven with lessons about the pitfalls of political intrigue and economic manipulation. Hyper-speed space travel and plasma weapons are all well and good, but if you can’t create a system that lifts your citizens out of poverty and encourages innovation and creativity, your system is doomed to collapse under the weight of base and brutish human instincts.

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