TMD's Creatively Named Blog

Hmm, well in reaction to the one about STAR WARS always being anti-capitalist, I'm not entirely sure.  Certainly, there's a moral that money isn't everything and an inherent understanding that greed is bad, but then it isn't like everything being pointed out as capitalistic is capitalistic.  The Trade Federation had their own senators, which is technically corporatism and oligarchy.  And then it seemed that in a galaxy where every transaction was legal, there wouldn't be a need for smugglers.  You're right, though, it was certainly intentional in Episode VIII, although I think there's still a legal debate there over what that would constitute as.  I debate if it's capitalism or anarcho-capitalism, because in the real world a country can be capitalistic while also barring its industries from creating weapons for the enemy.  So they're capitalistic within their own borders, but internationally there's some "reasonable restrictions" on free trade.  That is to say, selling things to criminal organizations or enemy powers is by its very nature illegal.  It could very well be that this was all, nonetheless, intended to message against capitalism by George Lucas, regardless of the delivery.  I wouldn't know and can't read his mind, although I know that there were other political, social, and religious themes that he had intended from the beginning, so this could very well be one of them.

 

However, I do think that STAR WARS does make a point that money isn't particularly important, and generally speaking the language of fantasy casts characters who care about money as greedy, or as people who aren't virtuous.  It would be interesting to see a STAR WARS character like George Bailey, though.  It might not fit into the genre, but then, we've made room Rose Tico, who in my estimation is the first true "normie" of the franchise.  If Holdo had lived, I could have seen her as the type of character who would look at the pragmatic financial end of rebuilding the Rebellion.

 

Anyway, that bit with the Trade Federation gave me an idea a while back, since I always wanted to create a sci-fi civilization that was a pure oligarchy run by business, and I developed this idea that there's a world run by a Senate represented by the 64 largest businesses.  Every year, the largest businesses would be reevaluated, and any changed in the top 64 would be accounted for in the Senate.  So it isn't quite capitalism so much as corporatism, and the citizens of that world tend to be real cut-throat businessmen.  Technology and information tended to be the largest businesses.  It worked out, in part, because the planet's population has a really, really strong ethnic identity.

 

Ah, anyway, I'm going off on a tangent.  Nice list.  It's also good to get a reminder that you've lived in Singapore.  I know about the boat, but I seem to recall reading something where you mentioned Singapore as well, a long time ago.  I remember wanting to ask you a few questions about it last September, in case I paid a visit there.  It's on my shortlist of international visits that really interest me.  If I can make a request, you should write a blog entry about it sometime.  It's something I'd greatly enjoy reading.

 

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