Post by Makiro on Dec 24, 2009 8:56:27 GMT -5
For many years the Jedi Order has watched over the Republic, promising us safety and security, seemingly without any cost to ourselves. We have, all too often, simply accepted this help, without asking ourselves some very important questions, namely: Is this really without cost? If it isn’t, what is the cost? And, perhaps most importantly, can we really trust the Jedi? I want to ask myself these questions, and I want to ask them of you, too. I hope to find some answers to the problem of the Jedi Order.
Firstly, we must look at what effect the Jedi actually have on the day-to-day business of this Republic. Do the Jedi feed our children? Do they walk our domesticated Kath Hounds and / or protect us from them when they revert to their naturally feral state? Do they even speak to us on the streets? The answer to all of these questions is a rather resounding “no”. It is clear that the ordinary citizen’s life would not, at least at a personal level, be affected by the absence of the Jedi Order.
The Jedi themselves, of course, would argue that their influence is not intended to be directly felt at a personal level. They would tell us that they are, in fact, important in a much broader sense, and exert influence in places entirely incomprehensible to us mere denizens of the mortal plane. But is this really necessary? To decide this, we need only look at a few of the major historical events in which the Jedi claim to have been influential.
Take for example the Mandalorian Wars and subsequent Jedi Civil War. Yes these happened over three centuries ago, and I will admit that bringing them up again may be flogging a dead Bantha slightly, but the truth is that the Jedi were, during that time, responsible for a great deal of damage to the Republic and to her citizens.
The Jedi never miss an opportunity to remind us that yes, Revan was a Jedi, perhaps one of the best, but during that bit where he was trying to kill everyone and his kath hound, yes, then he was actually a Sith. Oh, but you know when he decided to save us instead? Yeah… he was a Jedi then.
Are we simply to accept that the only real difference between the Jedi and the Sith is that the Jedi make the Order look good, whilst the Sith do not? It certainly seems that way. In today’s climate of mistrust and paranoia, can we really afford to leave our personal and political security in the hands of a mystic and cloistered Order of supernatural beings, who are all completely incapable of accepting responsibility for their actions?
I would suggest that this is not acceptable. I put it to you, good people of the Republic, that the Jedi are an outdated Order, with little true purpose in our modern society. In my humble opinion, they must either adapt to the changing times and begin to take responsibility for the actions of those they have trained to wield strange and destructive powers, or they must vanish, leaving the Republic to prosper without the constant threat of their treachery.
What do you think? Should we accept the Jedi for what they are – a mysterious Order, but one with a certain number of benefits to our society? Or do should we send them a message that there is no longer a place in this society for their strange and treacherous ways?
Sil Moon, writing for the HoloNet News